


That Fragile Scarlet Tree

by Lula_Landry



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alpha Ben Solo, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boss/Employee Relationship, Corporate Espionage, Dominant Kylo Ren, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Force Dyad (Star Wars), Gun Violence, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Loss of Virginity, Mathematics, Omega Rey (Star Wars), POV Rey (Star Wars), Praise Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:02:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23373604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lula_Landry/pseuds/Lula_Landry
Summary: Rey is asked by her boss Ben Solo to join his inner circle at First Order International, putting her brilliant mind to good use. The biggest problem? Rey is an Omega in hiding, living in a world where her kind have become nearly extinct, while Ben is an Alpha amongst Alphas, triggering her biological responses in ways she's never had to deal with before.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 158
Kudos: 747





	1. You're Making My Blood Boil

Averey Kira Jackson sat alone in the sixty-ninth floor conference room feeling equal parts nervous and excited. Everyone who worked in Solo Tower knew this was where serious decisions were made.

The table was polished mahogany, glossy and smooth, able to seat at least two dozen women and men. The chairs were black leather, as soft as butter with padded back rests and adjustable neck support. Shining gold and green glass art deco lamps were placed in strategic spots throughout the room, the carpet plush silver grey with a motif like slashing rain, the walls wood panelled oak that was reminiscent of a gentleman’s club.

This room was nothing like the beige closet where Rey’s team normally had their meetings. She worked on the fifth floor, significantly lower down the rung when compared to the people who met in this luxuriously appointed space.

She was here because her company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kyle Ben Solo, wanted to speak to her. There was some suspicion in Rey’s mind that she was in trouble, for what other reason would the big cheese have to see a little mouse like her?

Rey knew of the man but had never met him personally.

Solo ran First Order International like a general with his own private army. It was well known that he’d joined the Marine Corp and done two tours in Afghanistan before he was called home by the previous CEO, his uncle Luke Skywalker. A year after Ben’s return to the fold, Luke shocked everyone by retiring to an island in the Bahamas (or so it was rumoured), leaving the multi-million dollar firm in his nephew’s hands.

It might have been a disaster, but Ben Solo was up for the challenge. Over the last few years, he’d single-handedly tripled First Order’s revenue. At thirty-four years of age, he’d become the youngest billionaire on the eastern seaboard. His aristocratic face could be seen gracing the covers of financial papers and gossip magazines alike.

Ben Solo was the man of the hour.

Rey had belonged to his company’s actuarial team for over a year now. It was a dream job. She was putting her expensive degree to use with a salary decent enough to survive Manhattan’s exorbitant apartment rates and pay off her student loans. She didn’t mind the long hours or heavy workload. Too many of her friends were working the same hours without being so amply compensated.

Rey also had no trouble putting up with her sarcastic, peroxide blonde manager. Gwen Phasma stole credit for every valuable piece of information Rey discovered, but she’d faced far worse abuses during her childhood in the foster system.

Besides, Phasma mostly left Rey alone, knowing the redhead could be counted on to produce results. Her colleagues Finn Jones and Rose Tico were not so fortunate, often coming under fire from Phasma’s withering tongue.

This morning, however, all that good will had come to an end.

Phasma was furious because Rey had received a summons to appear before Mr Solo in the very room where the board of governors met. Hallowed ground indeed.

“What’s this about?” Phasma demanded, spittle flying from her perfectly made up mouth. She loved red designer lipsticks.

Rey was bewildered. “I have no idea,” she replied.

Phasma’s eyes flashed. “Really? You didn’t send any brilliant reports with your name on them directly to the finance team?”

Rey gritted her teeth to prevent a sarcastic comment about Phasma’s skill at presenting her subordinate’s work as if it were her own. “No.”

“It must be that meddling Poe Dameron,” Phasma sniffed. “I noticed he took an unhealthy interest in you during his last visit.”

Rey flushed pink. She remembered Poe as well, but for her own reasons. He was the first Alpha she’d come across at First Order. His very smile had sent warning bells clanging in her head.

Rey was an Omega, and in her experience becoming entangled with an Alpha was never a good thing.

A century ago, the world was run purely by Alphas, men and women born physically stronger, mentally tougher and emotionally more resolute. They became leaders and politicians, financiers and entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers. The global economy was controlled by their kind, and Alphas were predators first and foremost.

The second tier of society consisted of Betas, people like Phasma, Finn and Rose, more even keeled though less brilliant, still healthy but nowhere near as Olympian in their physicality. They were often the worker ants in any nation, content to support a marketplace run by Alphas so long as they received their cut.

Finally came the Omegas; nearly always female, emotionally sensitive and physically frail, subject to heats that rendered them good for nothing except to be an Alpha’s consort. The lucky ones fell in love before they were mated, bound by biology to their Alpha, incapable of leaving no matter what the reason. The less fortunate were reduced to sexual slavery, birthing children whenever their Alpha deemed it so.

But that was generations ago. It seemed human development had decided to right its wrongs, correcting the imbalance between Alphas and the rest of society. Less and less Alpha children were born in the last five decades, though those few who remained retained dominant positions in the social order.

Betas became the outstanding strata of society. Their numerical strength meant many Betas eventually climbed corporate ladders and conquered political machinations to enjoy leadership positions. They were now able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Alphas.

And Omegas? Well, her kind were nearly extinct.

Rey knew of only one other Omega female. Jessika had come to a very ugly end thanks to the enterprising and illegal actions of Unkar Plutt, the man who ran their orphanage in London.

Rey was luckier. All her adolescent life, she’d been placed on suppressants by a surprisingly sympathetic foster mother. She suspected the woman was another Omega in hiding, but Beru had never openly confirmed that fact. Certainly Owen, her husband, was Beta.

Fortunately, Rey had a brilliant mind and an affinity for numbers. She won herself a scholarship to read mathematics at Oxford, eventually specialising in actuarial sciences. A job offer from First Order resulted in her move to America.

Education released her from the prison of her circumstance. She was still tethered to the sickly yellow pills that diluted her Omega pheromones and prevented her from entering heat, but that was better than being discovered by some Alpha who would see it as their right to dominate her.

Poe’s attention, while flattering, was distinctly unwelcome. To be fair, the man only spoke to her about work. There had been no hint of impropriety. No sign he’d realised Rey was that incredibly rare creature, an Omega female.

“Well, I suppose you better head upstairs,” Phasma muttered, seeing her subordinate had nothing more to add.

So here Rey sat, twisting thin fingers into pretzels, wondering why on earth _the_ Ben Solo would want to see her.

It was true, Solo and Dameron were known to be friends outside the office. They’d been photographed together with various scantily clad pop stars hanging off their arms, though how that connected to this meeting was beyond her. Rey couldn’t picture any kind of scenario where she would be the topic of conversation between the two men. She would never be one of those girls pretty enough to warrant the attention of Solo and Dameron.

Unexpectedly, she felt a twinge of jealousy.

Rey frowned. What was wrong with her? She’d felt nothing but anxiety while Dameron spoke to her, and Solo… well, he was so far out of her league he might as well be a unicorn. Her looks were least of the reasons why she’d never date either man.

Rey crossed her arms over her chest, a clear sign of defensiveness although she remained alone in the meeting room. She hoped Solo wasn’t some shallow playboy like what was portrayed in magazines.

She’d done her due diligence before joining First Order, reading up about the company and then researching its extraordinary CEO.

The multinational import-export business was started by Ben Solo’s mother, Leia Skywalker-Solo. She came from a blue blood family with far reaching political ties and was groomed to step into the same arena. And then Leia met a young fighter pilot by the name of Han Solo and threw it all away for love.

Still, the woman had ambition aplenty, founding First Order Enterprises—as it was then known—using nothing more than the money in her own bank account. Some argued the contents of said bank account were fairly substantial to begin with, but Rey suspected that was just people bemoaning a woman’s success.

Cancer took Leia’s life when Ben was only twenty-three. A year later his father was dead in a plane crash. At the time of the incident, Han was both the pilot of the light aircraft and its only occupant. It was rumoured his death was a suicide, but Rey wasn’t sure what to believe. On the one hand, it must have been difficult grieving the loss of his remarkable wife, but on the other hand Han still had his son to live for.

That was the year Ben Solo graduated with a Masters in Engineering from MIT. Two weeks later he joined the Marines, and six months after that he shipped out. Rey could understand his motivation—he was running away. His parents were gone and all the money in the world couldn’t make up for that fact.

While Rey had never possessed an abundance of wealth, she suspected the hollow ache which reminded her every day she was alone in the world could never be filled by a fat bank account.

Luke Skywalker took over his sister’s company, running it efficiently albeit with distinct lack of imagination. Still, he kept the business humming along until he’d had enough. Rey wondered what Luke had said to bring Ben home.

Six years in the military had left its mark. Ben readily admitted in interviews with Time Magazine, Vanity Fair and the Financial Review that he ran his business the same way he’d been taught by the Marine Corp.

He was the supreme leader, but those who worked for him needed to be loyal and work as a team. That and some radical out-of-the-box thinking meant he revolutionised his mother’s company, increasing profits exponentially.

Rey was embarrassed to say she’d become a little obsessed while pouring over Ben Solo’s private life in a variety of women’s magazines. The gossip columnists loved him, the brooding face that never smiled but photographed so well, the couture clothing that he wore with apparent disdain, the disposable harem of beautiful women he dated, mostly radiant blondes with gravity defying breasts and bronze tans that were somehow maintained in the middle of winter.

And now this brilliant, fabulously rich and deeply attractive male had asked to see her. Rey could only hope she didn’t embarrass herself.

The room door clicked open and she bounced to her feet. Patches of colour burned immediately on her cheekbones.

_Breathe, woman, breathe…_

Ben Solo walked in like a man who knew he owned the very carpet she stood on, not so much a swagger as it was a long-legged stride. Rey grew inexplicably faint, her knees turning to jelly. He was more impressive than his pictures, more imposing than any man had a right to be.

_Alpha!_

_Oh, no. No, no, no._

Rey felt her Omega biology, so long kept in check by medication, unfurl like a flower in spring.

_Alpha, Alpha, Alpha!_

_No, stop it!_

What was wrong with her? She hadn’t reacted this way to Poe.

But then Poe, despite being devilishly handsome, did not possess the sheer physicality of the man approaching her now.

Ben Solo was huge, as big and wide as a barn door, his towering frame clothed in a bespoke midnight blue suit, his silk shirt the colour of red wine, his tie a subtle cross hatching of red on red. The gold cuff links at his wrists were studded with diamonds, matching the face of his shiny Rolex, his black shoes gleaming with a mirror polish.

And yet the posh civility of his outfit could not hide the majestic Alpha animal whose energy filled the suddenly claustrophobic meeting room.

He had a long face with a strong nose and high, wide cheekbones. His mouth was full and supple, almost feminine in its lushness, his eyes like polished amber. His black velvet hair was three inches too long for propriety. All she wanted to do was run her hands through those locks, each individual strand thick like rope. He was broad shouldered and lean hipped, his chest like a wall, his thighs like tree trunks, his hands… his hands making her heart stutter with their long, blunt fingers.

And he smelled like she imagined an Alpha should, melted dark chocolate and fresh cinnamon sticks, his pheromones coating her tongue until she could practically taste his skin.

Rey swayed where she stood, overcome.

Solo frowned, no doubt seeing her pale, postage-stamp-sized face and wondering if she was about to keel over in a dead faint. He reached out a hand to grip her shoulder and his thumb grazed her collar, that sensitive pathway to the gland that sat on her neck, hidden by her three messy buns of hair.

Something flickered in his burnt umber gaze. “Omega,” he hissed, and Rey felt the world collapse around her.

He knew! He’d sensed her as well.

Well, of course he had. She’d all but turned into a puddle of pheromones upon his arrival.

Rey swallowed hard but no words came. Her wide eyes were fixed on Solo’s face though what she saw there was unhelpful. He was scowling.

“I don’t like Omegas in my ranks,” he said abruptly, his baritone voice like ice. “They’re nothing but trouble.” And yet his big hand remained on her shoulder, his thumb absent-mindedly tickling sensitive skin cells.

Stung by his comment, Rey pulled herself out of a thick fog of biological need and back to reality. She took a step back, hoping he’d let go. His grip tightened.

“You—you wanted to see me, sir,” Rey said, as if he’d never brought up her designation.

His eyes narrowed. “Have you nothing to say for yourself?” he asked, dropping his hand at last.

She nearly cried out in anguish at the loss of his touch. Her skin felt hot all over, the junction of her thighs clenching spasmodically like a milking machine out of control. She was so wet she grew afraid her slick would stain her clothes. She’d never responded so aggressively to an Alpha before.

“What do you want me to say?” she asked, affronted. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Really?” he snapped, taking a step toward her, the breadth of his shoulders engulfing her slim form. The top of her head barely reached the centre of his chest. “So if I call your manager, Phasma will confirm she knows you’re an Omega?”

Tears stung the back of her eyelids and Rey bit down hard on her lower lip, hoping the pain would keep her emotions in check. “I work very hard for your company, Mr Solo. My manager has no complaints about me.”

“You’ve hidden your designation. Isn’t that fraud?”

“I take suppressants to help me stay focused,” she admitted, humiliated beyond belief. To have her secret exposed before this man, her boss and an Alpha, was excruciating.

“Why?” Solo asked, sliding his hands into his pockets, his expression turned curious.

“Excuse me?”

“Omegas are a rare commodity. You could be very comfortable in the home of some rich Alpha.”

Anger pierced her heart and Rey lifted her chin. “I am no one’s commodity,” she snapped. Adding as an afterthought, “Sir.”

And wouldn’t you know it, the Alpha beast before her almost smiled, the corners of his mouth quirking upwards.

“You’re a scrawny little thing, aren’t you?” he murmured, looking her up and down as if she was a mannequin.

Rey fought the urge to smooth down her hair and straighten the charcoal grey skirt she’d paired with a daffodil yellow blouse. She wished she’d worn grey all over, the better to camouflage herself.

And how dare he comment on her personal appearance? Even though she was outraged, his words still hurt like the keen edge of a knife. In that moment, his scent in her nose, she only wanted to please Ben Solo.

Rey didn’t know what to say so she said nothing.

Solo circled her slowly, leaning in at one point to sniff her neck. She let out a small squeak which earned her another upturn of his lips.

“Your medication isn’t working very well,” he commented in his low, smooth voice, sounding almost bored.

She glared at him. “It was working fine until…” Rey caught the end of her statement before she could speak the words. What in the world was wrong with her, very nearly admitting to this male that he was the cause for her chaotic biology?

It was too late, however. She saw Solo’s eyes widen briefly as he understood the implication of her unfinished sentence. He was triggering her Omega responses.

The scent of cinnamon and chocolate and smoke intensified, and Rey swallowed a whimper.

It wasn’t fair. Who was this man to walk into her life and disrupt it so completely? In a minute he’d resume his comfortable Alpha existence where he dated cover girls, while she would return to her little beige cubicle to take a double dose of suppressants and pray he hadn’t sent her into heat. Unless, of course, he fired her first for keeping her designation a secret.

Rey wasn’t sure what was worse—working in a company where she might run into this Alpha again or losing her livelihood completely. At this point, it was a coin toss.

And she still didn’t know why he’d called her into this meeting. It was not a good day for her. If she remained much longer in Solo’s presence, Rey was afraid she would begin stripping off her clothes. Now _that_ would definitely warrant a reprimand from human resources.

“Poe warned me I wouldn’t find you very impressive to look at,” Solo spoke, unwittingly answering her unspoken question about whether Dameron was the reason behind this meeting.

Rey flushed over yet another unflattering comment on her appearance. Once she was alone she would have to find a quiet place to weep in shame.

_Alpha isn’t happy, Rey. Why haven’t you pleased your Alpha?_

_He’s not mine!_

“But he said you were brilliant, and that you were wasted in Phasma’s team.”

Still, Rey did not speak, not really trusting herself to do anything while this Alpha’s pheromones drenched her like a marinade.

Solo looked at her in irritation. “I was going to offer you a trial run as part of my inner circle, but I’m no longer convinced. Your Omega status is a problem.”

Rey shook her head to clear it. “You want me to be your secretary?”

He rolled his eyes. “Of course not. What a waste of your skills. I have a secretarial pool that takes care of my schedule and bookings. You were supposed to be my own private mathematician, running predictive figures for company outputs based on different deviations I envisage. Of course, if you don’t work out I’ll ship you back to Phasma.”

Rey’s heart thudded against her ribcage. The role he described sounded incredible. It was practically making her salivate—or was that Ben Solo himself? Whatever the cause, she knew she wanted the opportunity. It was an example of statistical numbers impacting the company on a real time basis.

“I would love to work with you, sir,” she said a trifle breathlessly.

“Would you now?”

It took Rey a moment to realise his question was genuine and not sarcastic. Considering she was sweating behind her knees just standing there, it really wasn’t unexpected that Solo would question her ability to work close by him.

“Yes,” she said firmly, her pulse fluttering in her throat.

_What the hell are you doing, Rey? This Alpha has you turning feral in seconds. How will you withstand hours beside him?_

_It’s not like he’s interested in me. He’s safe._

_And you? Will you remain civilised, or devolve into an Omega bitch in heat?_

Solo’s sinful mouth curved upwards into a genuine smile. “Alright, little Omega. Let’s give this relationship a try.”

Rey was already regretting her decision as her breath caught in her throat, rendering her incapable of speech. She could only nod at her boss like an idiot.

Her simple life was about to get very interesting.


	2. Blood from a Stone

Rey arrived at Ben Solo’s seventieth floor office glowing, though she wasn’t sure whether it was from heightened blood flow or sheer embarrassment.

She’d tossed and turned throughout the night, unable to suppress dreams that involved herself naked and astride her boss’ impressive form, her palms planted on his well-muscled chest, her hair swung low to cover her sweaty face while her hips worked a delightful rhythm.

She’d awoken to find herself alone and miserable in her tiny studio apartment, her sheets a tangled mess and her skin radiating heat. She took matters into her own hands, so to speak, and the vibrating bullet she’d bought herself on the off chance she succumbed to a heat got its first real working over. And once more before breakfast.

This was not like her. Not at all. Rey had never thought of herself as a sensual creature. She’d always considered sex more of an inconvenience than anything else. The couple of guys she’d dated in college were nice enough, but neither one had made her hot under the collar. She’d never chased sexual adventures and was thus woefully inexperienced. She was still a virgin where it counted the most.

Rey ruthlessly doubled her medication that morning. She knew she should see her doctor for more sensible advise but there was no time for that. Ben Solo awaited.

This was a dream opportunity, a way to prove herself through the gift of mathematics, and she was not about to blow her chance.

_What if you blow him instead?_

_Stop it!_

She looked around curiously as the elevator deposited her on the top floor. It was invitation only and she’d never been there before. Everyone knew the entire level was given over to their CEO.

Apart from his personal office, it was rumoured Solo had built himself private sleeping quarters so that he never had to return home. The legendary Solo work ethic often meant he was the last one to leave the building.

It was said his mother was the same, that Leia had become obsessed with her work to the detriment of her personal life. Rey wondered what that had meant for little Ben, though she couldn’t imagine the arrogant Alpha from yesterday’s meeting ever being a child. He’d probably been cloned in a vat and arrived fully formed.

As her shoes clicked on the floor, Rey realised it was polished wood instead of durable carpet, tiny squares of rich, dark cedar that gleamed with a velvet finish. The walls were painted a deep French grey with ivory trim, bare except for the portrait of a beautiful and imposing woman in a modest black silk gown, her hair piled atop her head in dark brown braids.

Rey paused before the expensive oil painting. She could see a ghost of the man Solo in the sensitive mouth of his mother and her dark, expressive eyes. Leia had also been an Alpha, well known for championing Beta and Omega rights. It was a pity her son was so prejudiced.

A brief hallway led Rey to imposing cherry wood doors with silver handles as big as baseball bats. There was no secretary’s desk to run interference. He was all alone up here—and she with him.

Rey hesitated, smoothing damp palms over the plain beige of her outfit. The pencil skirt fell two inches below her knee. Her white blouse had sleeves that ended at her wrists. Her legs were covered in nude stockings and stuffed into chunky heeled black shoes. Rey had kept her make-up minimal, apple flavoured gloss on her lips, and she wore her hair in three low, loose buns, the better to cover up her throbbing Omega gland.

She didn’t know why she was trying to look like a librarian. After all, Ben Solo had made it pretty damn clear he already found her unattractive. He’d called her scrawny, as she recalled. Her cheeks burned just remembering his drawling tone.

She knocked on the door and his answering “come in” followed quickly. Rey stepped into an office space so opulent that a tiny gasp fell from her lips.

At the furthest end of the enormous room was a curved wall made entirely of glass, taking advantage of the seventieth floor view. The rest of the huge space was divided into two areas by decor.

The first section was lushly carpeted in burnt orange, with deep cushioned couches and armchairs covered in blood red fabric. The vibrant colours might have been too much, except it was offset by the internal wall, a living green forest dripping with ferns and plant life.

Where the carpet ended, the floor became polished white marble with a vein of black running through it. This area was lit by a ceiling covered in hanging geometric crystals, the central fixture a desk that appeared carved from black rock, a heavy, monstrous thing that suited the man seated behind it. His back was to the view, as if he were a falcon perched on the edge of a cliff.

Solo was dressed all in black today—a black suit that was tailored to the lines of his impressive frame, a black silk shirt and tie. The only gleam of colour was his gold Rolex and blood red cuff links that Rey suspected were real rubies.

That sculpted face was chiselled out of granite, the amber in his eyes subsumed so that his gaze appeared completely black. He was pure Alpha, radiating an intensity that seemed part apocalyptic rage and… part brittle vulnerability.

Rey blinked. Where had that come from? Solo was as vulnerable as the metal bars of a cage, ones that threatened to imprison her even now.

“There you are, Omega,” he snapped. “Are you planning on coming closer or do you intend to hover in the doorway all day long?”

His question drew blood to her cheeks and Rey hurried to stand before his desk. Damnit, he smelled good.

Wanting to assert herself, she said, “Good morning, Mr Solo.”

He didn’t respond in kind, his gaze returning to a wafer thin black tablet, its screen covered in graphs.

“My friends call me Rey,” she added, hoping he’d take the hint and stop referring to her by designation.

Dark eyes lifted, and a heady swirl of toasted spices filled her nostrils.

“Does this look like a barnyard social?”

“No, sir, I just meant…”

“I know what you meant,” he said, interrupting her. “Omega.”

Her flushed cheeks turned scarlet. “Mr Solo…”

“Is this going to be a problem?” he asked abruptly.

“What’s that, sir?”

“Are you always going to be so sensitive about your biological status? Because I really don’t have time to baby you.”

Rey gaped at him and then attempted to swallow her outrage. She reminded herself that if she was successful at this post it would open up career pathways to other elite companies. Everyone would be curious about Ben Solo’s personal actuarial scientist. She could have her pick of jobs and she would never have to see this man again.

“No, sir. I merely thought you’d prefer to use my name.”

He looked at her sharply, but she’d kept her tone polite and her face innocent. Two could play that game.

In a way, Rey was glad Solo was being an utter bastard. Her desire for him yesterday afternoon (and last night and this morning) felt like a hazy memory.

He handed her the tablet he’d been scanning. His fingertips brushed hers and a jolt of lightning travelled from that point of contact all the way to her toes.

_There it is._

“I intend to expand the company to Pacific Asia,” Solo said, wrenching her back to the business at hand. “We already have an office in Australia and another in Singapore, but it’s an untapped market as far as I’m concerned. What you’re holding are the statistical projections produced by a market research team I usually hire for such purposes.”

Rey frowned at the numbers. “These don’t look very promising.”

“Quite simply, I disagree with their findings,” Solo said, getting up from his chair and coming around to stand beside her.

Rey looked up at him, stretching her neck to maintain eye contact. He was so big and tall that it felt like his frame was enveloping hers. A strange tremble entered her limbs at this increased proximity. She took a deep breath, which turned out to be a huge mistake as she breathed in his scent. Her nipples hardened, chafing against the confines of her cotton bra, a gush of slick further dampening the junction of her thighs.

Rey took a protective step backwards.

He knew, the jackass. Solo’s expression became less rigid, his eyes flickering over her in cool interest. She was a curiosity to him, nothing more and nothing less. An Omega freak.

“I can run through the data again,” she said, fighting to steady the wobble in her voice. “I would prefer not to read the other team’s findings, lest it colour my own reasoning. Once I’ve crunched the numbers and assessed risk, I’ll compare my results to theirs and produce a second report on any differences.”

“Yes,” was all Solo said, his gaze on a particularly sensitive part of her neck.

Rey clenched her fists to keep herself from reaching up to check whether her hair had shifted and her gland was showing. It was normally a near invisible seam in her skin. After last night, however, it had turned red raw and angry.

“Have you ever nested?”

She flinched. “Excuse me?”

“I understand when Omegas are about to go into a heat, you build nests from blankets and clothes that have your Alpha’s scent.”

“That has nothing to do with the work you’ve asked me to do.”

“Just a question.”

“I thought you didn’t want to make my Omega status an issue,” Rey said waspishly, clutching the tablet so hard she was afraid she would dent its sleek plastic cover.

“I won’t,” Solo rumbled, “so long as you’re a good girl and behave.”

_Dear Lord._

_Must. Please. Alpha._

Rey bit down hard on her instincts. “I have never and will never date an Alpha,” she said through gritted teeth.

Ben’s answer was a lazy smile. “Ah, I see.”

He left her side to return to his throne-like leather chair.

She couldn’t help herself. “What do you see?”

He was already logging on to a computer with quick movements of his capable hands, no longer looking at her. “I wondered why you were so twitchy. It’s because you’ve never been exposed to an Alpha before.”

Rey said nothing, memories of the director of her orphanage Plutt coming crashing down on her. It was unpleasant.

“Am I wrong?” Ben asked, his gaze back on her face, reading her expression like a book. “I am wrong. Did an Alpha mistreat you?”

Rey heard the compassion in her boss’s voice and tears prickled behind her eyelids. What was this? When had Ben Solo gone from being a cold bastard to a kind man? Her whole self, body and soul, wanted to run to him, dive into his spiced chocolate embrace and bare her every hurt and wound.

_Alpha will look after me, protect me._

_You’re wrong. This man doesn’t care for you._

_Only Alpha can help._

_Stop. Now._

Rey eased her hold on the tablet in her hands. “Where would you like me to work, sir? Shall I return to my cubicle on the fifth floor?”

He frowned. “Definitely not! The information you hold is too sensitive to leave this room. Do I need to remind you about corporate espionage? Or are you completely out of your depth here, Omega?”

Rey bit her lower lip so hard she may have drawn blood. Her Omega sensibilities scurried away to cry in a corner of her mind. “No, sir.”

He glared at her briefly. “I’ve set up a desk for your use.”

Rey blinked. She would work here, in the same room as Solo?

“Questions?” he snapped, clearly wanting her gone.

She shook her head and walked in the direction of the wave of his hand.

Rey crossed the marble floor onto the gorgeous orange carpeting and discovered an L-shaped desk tucked into the far corner of Solo’s office. It was hidden by a plethora of ferns which gave her some measure of privacy. On it was a brand new computer. She dug around and found her drawer was full of stationery. Her boss had been accommodating.

Nothing but the best when you worked beside Ben Solo, she supposed. Despite herself, it gave Rey a little thrill.

She could do this- she knew she could. She would dazzle Mr Solo with her findings and just when he realised her true worth, she would leave First Order for a rival company.

Rey couldn’t wait.

A week went by. Rey worked quietly in her corner, crunching numbers and meticulously detailing her findings, while Ben Solo ran his company from his volcanic desk.

After her first day in Ben’s office, Rey decided that CEOs mostly made phone calls. The couple of hours when he would go to lunch each day was the only time she breathed freely, running to the washroom if she’d been holding it in all morning and scarfing down her tuna salad in a corridor so she didn’t make the room smell like fish. That was also her time to put on fresh panties if necessary. And it was always necessary.

Ben didn’t speak to her, barely acknowledging Rey’s greetings or goodbyes. It was as if his question about her past had been a momentary lapse in judgment. She began to feel like another piece of furniture in his luxury office.

The lack of social niceties was disconcerting but it meant she was able to churn through her work at a speed that would have been impossible on level five, what with Rose wanting to discuss everything Finn did and whether or not it meant he liked her, and Finn wanting to discuss basketball or baseball or football. Or golf, when he grew truly desperate.

It also meant, despite the heavenly scent of Alpha that permeated the air, Rey could wrangle her disastrous hormones into some semblance of order by doubling down on her medication.

Her reaction to Ben had been so intense that she’d become concerned and logged onto the web to research Alpha Omega pairings. She wanted to know why she hadn’t reacted to Poe Dameron the way she had to Ben Solo. Rey found thousands of articles on the subject, though most were a decade old.

All the literature agreed that some mating pairs reacted more intensely to one another, and this intensity followed if the couple were bonded. She discovered several scientists who theorised the idea of a ‘soul mate’, an Alpha Omega pair so intrinsically suited to one another that any kind of separation after bonding would result in the death of either half of the couple.

Rey felt a shiver of unease run down her spine. She’d heard stories of Omega females going insane when rejected by their mates. In such situations, the Alphas inevitably kept the children since they were the ones with financial control of their households. Naturally, this further contributed to the destabilising of an Omega’s mental equilibrium.

Rey hated that she was born to be in tune with another person, birthed to be another being’s mate. How could that be her sole purpose? She hadn’t believed it either, not until she’d felt the call of Ben’s Alpha pheromones. She’d spent more time weeping and eating ice-cream this past week than in the last year, all because of the big Alpha in the room with her.

Fortunately, biology was only one part of who she was. Ben’s coldness was helping her stay in control. See, she told herself every time his gaze slid over her as if she didn’t exist, there was no such thing as soul mates. And the latest in Omega suppressants took care of nasty little side effects like mating heats.

Rey had attempted to be sociable one memorable morning by offering Ben homemade brownies, but the look in his sizzling amber eyes had reduced her to a metaphoric charred cinder. She hadn’t approached him with her cooking since.

She started dropping by her old team first thing in the morning with containers of baked goods. Rey knew her sudden need to cook was another aspect of her Omega personality coming out, a desire to stock up her fridge for when her Alpha would come calling and fill her belly with pups. It was infuriating, but at least her actions were harmless.

By the time Friday came around, Rey was well and truly ready for the weekend. She needed a break from her boss’s lingering pheromone trail.

Ben hadn’t had a single visitor all week, so Rey was surprised when he received a call and she heard him say, “Come on up.”

He must have pressed an access button she could not see, because ten minutes later Poe Dameron walked in. The young executive was as handsome as always in a well cut suit of deep chocolate wool, his mahogany curls and dark Spanish eyes a charming combination. Rumour was this Alpha had cut a swathe through the female employees at First Order.

“What?” Ben greeted him, his expression disgruntled.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten,” Poe declared dramatically.

Rey turned her head in time to see Ben raise a winged eyebrow.

“You promised we’d check out that new club tonight,” Poe said, throwing himself in an empty chair as if in despair.

“Which one?” Ben asked with little enthusiasm.

“Designated,” Poe replied, adding in response to Ben’s blank stare, “you know the one that promises models in mermaid costumes swimming in a ten-foot-deep tank.”

“Right,” Ben muttered, and his tone brought an amused smile to Rey’s lips. She was glad neither man could see her as she remained bent over her work. Her boss’s next words, however, wiped that smile away. “I had my own plans for tonight. I’m expecting Rey here to regale me with her findings.”

Startled, Rey sat up too quickly and knocked over her ‘4 out of 3 people struggle with math’ coffee mug. Fortunately, it was bone dry, the morning’s residue sticking like paint to the bottom.

“Rey-rey!” Poe cried, standing up to greet her.

He walked halfway toward her and stopped, forcing Rey to exit the safe space she’d created behind the jungle of potted plants.

“Hi, Mr Dameron,” she responded weakly, shaking his hand.

"Please, call me Poe."

“Rey-rey?” Ben repeated, and she flushed at his snide tone.

“My friends call me Rey,” she reminded him, wondering irritably if she was ‘Omega’ even in his head, as if her designation meant she didn’t deserve a real name.

“It’s a good thing I’m not your friend,” he said coldly.

“Oof,” Poe laughed like a jovial and slightly drunk uncle, “not with that attitude!”

But Ben had moved on from inane chatter. “What do you have to show for yourself?” he demanded, his tone cutting.

And Rey, who’d been thrilled by the progress she was making, suddenly felt like an abject failure.

_Alpha wants more… expects more._

_Don’t fail Alpha._

“I—I need another day to finalise my projections,” she stammered.

“Excellent. What I’m hearing is you’ll be able to provide me with a rough overview of your results this evening.”

“This evening?” Rey squeaked. After her deeply stressful week, she’d been looking forward to finishing early and heading out for a sushi dinner with her friends.

“Is that a problem?”

Rey knew she couldn’t let Ben Solo down. “No sir, of course not. I’ll start putting together a report now…”

Ben stood up and walked over to her, reminding Rey exactly how big he was and how small he made her feel.

_Alpha is strong…_

She told herself to keep calm, to take slow, even breaths so she wasn’t panting like a dehydrated puppy, and to keep her feet rooted to the ground even through all she wanted was to take an intimidated step back.

_Alpha is annoyed… Why can’t I make him happy?_

_Stop it, Rey. These hormones are not your reality._

“How long?”

The bass of his voice sent a shiver down her spine.

“Um… three hours?”

“Unacceptable!”

Rey flinched as Poe’s tenor interrupted Ben. To her surprise, their boss gave Poe an amused half smile. “What now?” he asked.

“The club awaits,” Poe protested.

“I have to work, Poe. This is important.”

“It’s all important, Ben. Why don’t you just bring the girl along?”

“Mmm.” The sound Ben made was a low bass rumble in his throat and Rey tried not to blush as it resonated through her glands, making her underwear even wetter. “I suppose _Rey-rey_ could give me her report at the club.”

Poe crowed like a rooster. “Brilliant idea,” he said as if it wasn’t his own, thumping Rey on the back hard enough to make her stagger. “You can tag along in the limo, Rey. Did I mention I’ve taken the liberty of hiring a limo?”

“No!” she gasped, shrivelling up on the inside as both Alphas looked at her in astonishment. “I mean—not no, sir. I would never say no to you, Mr Solo… It’s just… I’m not dressed appropriately for a night out.”

Ben Solo gave her a smile that only a predator would be able to produce, his eyes taking in her plain ponytail and grey skirt suit. “Why, Rey, I wouldn’t be so rude as to drag you through a nightclub dressed as you are now. Why don’t you go home and change? Come back, finish your preliminary overview and we’ll head out to…” he looked at Poe for confirmation.

“Designated,” the other man said immediately, though his dark eyes were bouncing between Ben and Rey like a spectator at a tennis match.

Rey suppressed the urge to cry. “Of course, sir.”


	3. Too Rich for My Blood

Rey called Rose as soon as she left the office, thanking the heavens above that her friend had the day off.

Rey wasn’t the kind of female who filled her closet with designer cocktail dresses. The biggest collection in her wardrobe consisted of novelty house slippers that looked like cartoon animals. Rose, on the other hand, had attended Brown and was president of her sorority house. Rey suspected she’d have something more appropriate to wear to an exclusive club.

As it turned out, Rose did. Unfortunately, while Rey was a shade slimmer than the rambunctious brunette, her breasts were also smaller and her legs significantly longer. Still, Rose being Rose, she made it work with a hidden network of safety pins.

Rey returned to Ben’s office desperate to get started on the report he wanted. She felt self-conscious in her new outfit and was grateful to find Poe had left.

Her boss looked up as she walked in, and for one brief moment Rey considered turning around and making a run for it. Inexplicably, she realised why Omega rights were such a hotly contested topic. When an Alpha looked at you the way Ben Solo was looking at her now, individual liberty seemed to fly straight out the window.

The dress Rose loaned her consisted of shiny gold sequinned discs that shimmered as Rey moved, the top half a simple halter that tied around her neck, baring smooth shoulders and arms, clinging to firm little breasts and following the curve of her tiny waist and swelling hips. The brevity of the skirt was scandalous, so short Rey hadn’t been able to wear stockings and tight enough to emphasize her pert bottom. She still wore sneakers but carried a pair of spike-heeled gold sandals in her right hand.

Rey had insisted Rose keep her makeup simple. Her chestnut red hair was swept up into a ballerina top knot, adorable wisps softening the look. Her normally clean face had mascara thickening her lashes, gold lining her eyelids and a shimmery peach gloss on full lips.

Ben leaned back in his leather chair, his face as hard as granite, amber eyes narrowed. “It’s a bit much, isn’t it?” he asked irritably.

Rey’s face fell. Just once, she wondered what this Alpha’s approval would feel like.

“I don’t have to go,” she said, trying not to sound hurt. “I could e-mail my early findings as soon as they’re done.”

His face softened imperceptibly. “No, you should come. Poe will be thrilled to see you all dolled up.”

“Why Poe?” The question slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t you like the way I look, sir?” She didn’t know how she dared.

Ben was silent for so long Rey feared she’d gone too far. His response made her cheeks burn.

“When I see something I like, Omega, you’ll know about it.”

_Oh, God, why won’t the earth open up and swallow me whole?_

Rey spent the rest of the evening tucked away in her corner, desperately trying to focus as she summarised her work. She didn’t want an error in her reporting, even if this was a rough draft.

At the same time, she was aware her baby pink bikini panties were soaked with her body’s desire for the Alpha not so many feet away from her, her need to be claimed by him like an itch in her brain. If he would only bend her over until her back snapped she could die a happy Omega.

_It’s not fair. Why do I want him when he doesn’t even like me?_

_Focus on the work, Rey._

She hoped her calculations would satisfy Ben, since she’d already failed hard in his eyes at being female.

“Time to go!” Dameron declared, his chipper tone bringing Rey out of her work fog. “Rey-rey, you look delicious,” he added, taking her hand and making her twirl for his pleasure.

She blushed and glanced anxiously at Ben. He was scowling with disapproval.

Of course, he was.

Rey barely had time to slip on her gold heels before she was ushered into a mirrored elevator, Ben’s hand burning a hole in the small of her back. It was an exit she hadn’t realised existed. Naturally the CEO had his own private elevator.

The limousine was a huge, gleaming black thing, big enough that she was able to tuck herself into a corner and continue working on her thin data pad. She declined a glass of champagne from Dameron with a tight smile, her nerves increasing when she heard her boss say, “None for me either, Poe. I’ll drink once I’ve reviewed Rey’s numbers.”

Designated turned out to be a pulsing white cube of a building in the meatpacking district. Ben and Poe exited the car to much shouting and pops of light from a gaggle of paparazzi. Grown men screamed Ben’s name, begging for a soundbite. Rey shrank on the inside, intimidated by the blood lust of the crowd.

Was this his life? No wonder Ben Solo was so emotionally withdrawn. Everyone wanted a piece of him.

She followed behind the two Alphas but quickly realised her mistake. She wasn’t very tall, and even in Rose’s glitzy dress lacked the confidence to look like she belonged. Rey came close to being left out on the street when a big hand reached for her.

Ben wrapped a long arm around her shoulders, pulling Rey up against his side, tucking her under his coat. The smell of him was incredible, both woodsy cologne and spiced dark chocolate, melting her defences and making her weak in the knees.

This was a mistake, she realised frantically. It was one thing spending time together in a sterile office, but what did she think was going to happen when they entered a seething stew of perspiring and drugged humanity?

She could feel the hard muscles of his chest under the smooth fabric of a silk shirt, the warmth of the body that all but enveloped her, the weight of his arm on her small shoulders, the imprint of his fingers on her stomach, just below unfettered breasts that had grown tight and achey. Her thighs were slippery with desire, her skin tender to touch.

A paparazzo screamed out, “What’s her name, Solo?” just as the club door swung shut behind them and jerked her back to reality.

Ben dropped his arm, pushing her away. Rey briefly closed her eyes to hide the sting of tears. Was she so repulsive?

She thought back to the photographer’s question and hoped it was not her face in tomorrow’s gossip sites. Surely not. Once she’d briefed Ben she could leave and he would then move on to whichever runway model was waiting in the wings. That would be a far better news item rather than an image of him with some nameless office girl.

Ben and Poe, and Rey supposed herself by extension, were ushered through a throng of people and up a winding chrome staircase into what was undoubtedly the VIP room. Rey saw familiar faces, actors and athletes, social media influencers and pop stars. Her heart picked up pace, though she wasn’t sure if it was the crowd or the throb of house music being spun by a female deejay with blonde dreadlocks.

Sure enough, the longest wall in Designated consisted of human sized fish tanks which contained beautiful women wearing remarkably realistic mermaid costumes. As Rey gaped, they blew kisses and waved, periodically swimming to the top to take in more air.

The VIP space was on a balcony overlooking the glittering dance floor, the ground thickly carpeted in black, the chairs huge curving aquamarine velvet booths, the tables metallic gold with glass tops.

They were led to a booth of their own and Rey watched as Ben handed over a black Visa, opening a bottomless tab. The waitresses were dressed like club clientele in barely there skirts and sky high heels, making it difficult to distinguish between them and patrons. Rey supposed that was the point.

The sultry brunette with a voluptuous bust serving them gave Ben a smile that promised absolutely everything money could buy, herself included. Rey felt a surge of jealousy that nearly took her breath away and told herself not to be a fool.

This Alpha was free to do whatever he wanted. He certainly owed her nothing. She was an employee, for goodness’ sake, not even a friend.

Half a dozen bottles appeared in quick succession along with the requisite glassware. Rey hovered beside Ben as Poe flirted with the waitress, asking her to provide him with a taste of each kind of liquor she’d brought.

The brunette began to pour, keeping up a steady stream of coquettish conversation that Rey would have found impossible. There was a certain kind of woman she was never going to be; the socialite with sparkling wit and a dazzling smile.

Ben leant back in the centre of the booth, an amused tilt to his plush mouth as he listened to his friend, looking more relaxed than he had all week. Rey supposed Ben’s intensely Alpha personality needed Poe’s more relaxed outlook on life for balance.

Rey hadn’t sat down yet and she wasn’t sure she was supposed to. She wasn’t here to have fun, after all. She had a job to do. Since Ben seemed content to soak in the atmosphere for the moment, she took a deep breath and further examined her surroundings. She told herself to enjoy this glimpse into a world in which she did not belong.

She imagined Rose’s eyes bugging out of her head as Rey recounted tales of men in expensive athletic wear and Tom Ford suits, and women in leather bustiers and red-soled Louboutin heels. Finn would prefer her description of the mermaids, she was sure. Even the deejay was hot.

Like sharks scenting blood, pretty girls began drifting towards Ben and Poe, with lips like sleek pillows and eyes like glittering knives. One blonde in particular, over six feet in height in her strappy silver heels, seemed focused on Rey’s boss.

She had the slinky grace of a supermodel with a powdery white complexion and pale blonde hair falling in a sheet to her waist. Her cheekbones were sharp enough to cut glass, her lips frosted in glittering pink lipstick. Her dress was like armour, plates of metal linked by thin chain, short enough to reveal legs that went on forever. Every time she leaned forward that material jutted open, exposing small, hard breasts.

Rey felt another stab of jealousy that made her nauseous. She told herself to stifle the emotion—it should be easier now she knew she had no chance with Ben, now that she’d screamed her Omega brain into whimpering acquiescence.

The blonde pressed her mouth to Ben’s ear and said something, making the big man laugh, causing more pangs of envy in Rey. What must it be like to be beautiful and confidant, to be able to have a conversation with this Alpha that didn’t include stammering and blushes?

But then Ben dismissed her and gestured at Rey to draw closer. She saw pale blue eyes widen in disbelief as Rey slid into the booth next to her boss. Rey supposed she made an incongruous choice in this crowd, a short redhead in a cheap sequinned dress, a computer data pad clutched in her unmanicured hand.

But Ben was Ben, which meant nothing mattered except his needs. “Show me,” he said, turning his back on Poe who was still working on the waitress three drinks in.

Rey woke up her data screen, fingers trembling as she realised Ben’s Alpha scent was pronounced in this environment, his inner beast wanting dominance in a jungle of lights and music. His pheromones were making her see double.

_Quickly, Rey. The faster you do this the faster you can leave, preferably without having to stop by a pharmacy for an emergency vibrator to use in a public washroom._

It was so loud in Designated that she resorted to show more than tell, revealing two pages of numbers to Ben’s alert gaze. She watched a slow smile of satisfaction work its way across his sculpted face, his first expression of true pleasure. Rey would dream of his smile later that night.

“Is this saying what I think it’s saying?” he asked, his head right next to hers so she could hear the rumble of his voice in her ear.

Rey nodded, grateful her tiny gulp of desire had been drowned out by the thump of music. “The projections are very good,” she told him. “So good, in fact, you’d be crazy not to enter the Asia Pacific market.”

Again, Ben flashed her a grin of pure joy.

_Alpha is pleased._

_Finally._

But his smile was gone as quickly as it had appeared. “Why was the other report so negative?”

Rey hesitated. “Could I explain on Monday?” she asked. “There’s a lot to get into.” And telling the CEO of her company that someone had tried to sabotage his fledgling attempts at expansion was not something she wanted to do in a night club.

Ben was no fool. His amber gaze narrowed but he allowed her suggestion for once. “Alright,” he said. He looked at the array of half drunk glasses on the table before them and added, “It looks like Poe’s about to make out with the waitress. Why don’t you head to the bar and get us a couple of clean glasses? We’ll toast your results.”

Rey’s heart pounded in her chest, more pronounced than the cacophony of sounds around them. Was Ben asking her to drink with him? Did he expect her to stay by his side all night? Would he talk to her like a real human being rather than an Omega calculator? What did this mean?

Rey saw his mouth quirk, his shrewd mind reading into her hesitation. “Off you go, little Omega,” he said, and she had to obey.

_Alpha wants me, wants to spend time with me._

_It’s just one drink, Rey._

_Alpha will care for me, look after me…_

_Stop it, you loser! This isn’t a marriage proposal._

Rey pushed through a mob of people, so desperate to return to Ben that she grabbed a couple of fluted glasses from the black glass counter just as a bartender was about to fill them up with champagne. She ignored cries of annoyance and made her way back to the winding staircase, the bouncer immediately letting her through to the envy of a group of scantily clad women.

For one brief moment, Rey felt a surge of smug pride. That’s right, bitches. She was part of the inner circle.

Rey navigated her way to the VIP area, a little befuddled in the packed space, strobe lights hindering more than they helped. At last she spotted Poe. He’d made progress, one of his hands on the waitress’s ass.

She then looked for Ben, wondering where he’d disappeared. A second later her vision adjusted. It had taken a while to see him because a gorgeous Latina in a skintight red silk minidress was seated on his lap.

Rey’s heart twisted painfully and she nearly dropped the glasses in her hands.

_What did you expect, Rey? It took him seconds to replace you with a hotter girl. He’s too much Alpha for you._

“Who are you?” a feminine voice demanded, startling Rey.

She blinked at the blonde supermodel from earlier, the soft blue gaze now as hard as a steel trap. Rey shook her head in confusion.

“No, seriously,” blondie snapped, “who are you? I can handle little J-Lo over there, but I’ve never seen you before. Honestly, hon, you do not look like Ben’s type.”

Rey flushed, grateful for the confusion of lights hiding the red in her cheeks. “Mr Solo is my boss,” she explained. “I’m Rey.”

A triumphant smile curved the other girl’s frosted mouth. “I knew it! I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he was looking at you, and for a moment I thought… but that makes sense. You’re his… what, secretary?” Rey would have corrected the other girl except blondie wasn’t done, sneering as she looked Rey over from head to toe. “I mean, what are you even wearing? I’ve seen better fabric on tablecloths.”

Rey cringed on the inside. This was like boarding school all over again. The mean girl had realised she didn’t quite belong and was taking the opportunity to tear her apart. She gazed past the blonde and caught Ben’s eyes, his expression strangely concerned. Rey wondered what she looked like for him to even be worried.

But she wasn’t a teenager anymore and didn’t have to stand for the blonde’s cruel remarks. Rey pushed past blondie and made her way to Ben. The look of surprise on the caramel skinned Latina’s face when Rey spoke to him was as much an indictment of how out of place she was as the blonde’s poisonous words.

After all, Rey wasn’t Ben Solo’s type.

“I’m leaving,” Rey said to Ben, unable to dredge up a fake smile. “Here,” she added, setting down the glasses he’d wanted. “Enjoy.”

“Rey…”

His damnable voice tethered her feet to the ground. She looked at him, a spark of hope produced by her ever percolating Omega hind brain wanting him to dump the girl draped across his thighs and ask her to stay.

“What did Kaydel say to you?”

“Who?” Rey asked, wishing she was anywhere but here looking into his beautiful eyes, staring at what she could never have, not in a million years.

“The blonde in the silver dress,” he said, speaking as if he didn’t have another hot young thing rubbing her cleavage all over his chest.

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

He frowned. “You’re my guest. Tell me.”

_Alpha will protect you…_

Rey wanted to scream at her Omega instincts to shut up. “Kaydel made it clear I didn’t belong here, and she was right.”

He frowned, still ignoring the girl on his lap to her obvious irritation. “This is my life,” Ben said, waving a hand as if to encompass the expensive room and beautiful women all in one.

Rey spoke before thinking. “Does it have to be?”

A flicker of annoyance crossed his face. She held her breath, waiting for his wrath, but all Ben said was, “Perhaps it’s best that you leave.”

Rey exited the club as quickly as she could, half blinded by tears.

When would she learn to stay in her lane? Ben Solo was in a league of his own while she could barely play the game.


	4. Bad Blood

“Insane.”

“Crazy!”

Rey ate another cookie baked fresh in Rose’s tiny kitchen, nodding in agreement. It was her fourth, but she didn’t care. Sometimes chocolate was medicine.

Rose and Finn sat across from her on Rose’s dilapidated brown velvet couch, mugs of coffee in hand, Finn’s face covered in crumbs. It was Saturday afternoon and Rey had called her friends for an emergency consultation.

She’d spent most of the previous night tossing and turning until exhaustion took over and she’d finally fallen asleep. She awoke determined to put Ben Solo and their non-existent relationship behind her.

Unfortunately, her masochistic Omega side insisted she run a search on her boss. That brilliant idea turned up photos of him exiting club Designated with the stunning blonde supermodel Kaydel Co Connix on his arm. The blurb said she was the current face of Chanel.

 _Oh, good_ , Rey told herself sarcastically, _at least blondie wasn’t someone intimidating like an Oscar-winning actress._

The picture threatened to ruin Rey’s morning. She wasn’t a fool. It was obvious from the atmosphere in the club that Ben and Poe went there to hook up, but why did it have to be with that awful cow Kaydel? Rey felt worse than ever.

Thus, she called in reinforcements. It was Rose’s turn amongst the three friends to play hostess, and Rey and Finn had arrived at her apartment only seconds apart.

Rose filled their mouths with cookies and cups of coffee while Rey vented about her week working beside First Order’s CEO.

“I can’t believe you’ve been inside Designated,” Finn declared in an awed tone of voice once Rey was done talking. Rose smacked him on the shoulder and he winced. “What? What did I say?”

“That wasn’t the point of the story!” Rose hissed.

Rey burst out laughing, already feeling better. This was living right here; coffee and friendship.

She reminded herself that it was okay she wasn’t dressed in the latest couture gown. It was acceptable the only Alpha she desired didn’t think she was worth his attention. It was fine to drink water and not champagne. Those things were not tragedies, merely pebbles in the shoes of life.

Rose and Finn were both Betas so Rey didn’t bring up Ben’s Alpha status and the animal pull he had on her. The man was compelling enough without adding pheromones to the mix. Besides, she didn’t think they’d understand.

And as much as she wanted to tell them she was a rare Omega, in the end she decided against it. Rey didn’t think it would matter to her friends, but there was still deep prejudice against her kind. It was why she’d hidden her designation in her employee interview. It was the same reason why Ben Solo could threaten to fire her over so basic a revelation.

Many still considered Omega’s subhuman, as if her kind were physically and mentally disabled. And while it was true Rey would never win a triathlon, she had a far stronger immune system than most of her Beta colleagues, and a cast iron stomach to boot. Rey had discovered long ago she could eat just about anything. Growing up hungry was a powerful motivator.

“Solo sounds like a nightmare,” Finn muttered, leaning back and propping his feet on the triangular coffee table Rose had discovered at a flea market, pretty roses carved into the wood.

Both Rose and Rey swatted his feet at the same time and he removed his black Air Jordans with an unrepentant grin.

“I don’t know,” Rose countered archly, “Mr Solo is pretty hot. Being gorgeous covers a multitude of sins.”

Rey laughed as Finn lost his smirk. She knew Rose was only trying to annoy him.

As long as she’d known them, which was coming up to a year now, Rose had been crushing on Finn big time, and Finn… well, Finn didn’t even seem to realise.

“Are you kidding?” Finn spluttered. “Dameron is way better looking than Solo!”

The two girls looked at each other in momentary disbelief before falling over laughing.

Finn scowled, returning to his mug. “I’m just saying,” he muttered.

“I didn’t realise we had the president of the Poe Dameron fan club with us,” Rey teased. To her surprise, Finn grew even more flustered. “Finn, do you know him?”

Finn stuffed another cookie into his mouth before admitting with a snowstorm of accompanying crumbs, “Yes.”

“What? How?” Rose looked as stunned as Rey felt.

They gave Finn a minute to chew and swallow, during which time Rose reached for her favourite reversible sequinned cushion, her hands rubbing the shiny discs so they alternately revealed Nicolas Cage’s face in flesh pink and a plain scarlet ground.

“D’you remember me telling you guys I got my job in First Order because of my uncle?”

Rey nodded. “Lando, right?”

“Good memory,” Finn said. “What I didn’t say was that Uncle Lando and Han Solo were friends.”

“Wait,” Rose said, a furrow in her brow as she tried to work out the connection. “Your uncle and the husband of First Order’s founder Leia Skywalker-Solo were pals?”

“More than pals. Best friends. For years. Even before Leia was on the scene.”

Rey suppressed the twinge of jealousy that she felt over Finn’s connection to Ben’s family. “Wow, that’s pretty cool,” she said, cookies forgotten.

Finn shrugged. “It is what it is,” he mumbled. “It’s not like I’m close to the clan.”

“No?” Rey queried.

“Nope,” Finn said, draining his coffee before it got cold. “Uncle Lando took me to a couple of their Christmas parties and Easter egg hunts, which was where I met Poe.” He paused to look at the two girls who were listening raptly. “Solo and Dameron are older than us. You know that, right?”

Rose shrugged but Rey nodded. Thanks to all her investigative reading, she’d worked out Ben Solo was ten years older than her own age of twenty-four.

“Ben was a problem kid. Han used to go on and on about him to Uncle Lando. See, Han was a Beta married to a female Alpha, which was taboo enough. And then his Alpha son began to mature and started treating him like dirt.” Finn sighed, shaking his head. “They fought all the time, and Ben clashed with Leia too. Ben would run away from home and his parents would hire private security to go looking for him. They’d find him coked out of his mind in drug houses and strip clubs. The guy was out of control.”

Rey blinked. She’d never heard this story. She couldn’t imagine what would cause a teenager with millions in the bank and two good parents to lose control like that.

Rey had followed the opposite path. She’d been careful all her life knowing she had nothing to fall back on if she slipped up. It was a trait instilled in her by her foster parents Owen and Beru Lars. They’d been quiet, ordinary folk who’d struggled to deal with her academic aptitude as much as her Omega status.

“Ben graduated Princeton and MIT. He must have straightened himself out somehow,” Rey said, sounding plaintive to her own ears.

Something inside her wanted to find the teenage Ben Solo and wrap her arms around him. Rey didn’t know if she could blame the desire on pheromones.

“Leia finally called in her twin brother Luke.”

“Luke and Leia were twins?” Rose exclaimed. “You learn something new every day.”

“Luke didn’t have any of Leia’s business sense but he was a straight shooter. He took Ben home with him to some closed community in the Nevada dessert. Ben Solo finished high school with maybe a dozen other kids in a two room schoolhouse. Han couldn’t believe it. Suddenly Ben didn’t have his drug connections and party hungry friends, and he aced the SATs. I’m sure his family name helped get him into Princeton, but to his credit he never looked back.”

Rey bit her lower lip thoughtfully. Was that why Ben had listened when Luke summoned him home from the military? In a way, he owed the old man his life.

Rose tossed aside her mauled cushion and walked to the fridge, pulling out a pitcher of fresh-squeezed lemonade and three glasses. “That still doesn’t answer why you’re Team Poe,” she said, placing the jug and glasses on her coffee table.

Rey frowned, realising Rose was right. She’d been so focused on finding out more about Ben she hadn’t realised Finn had skipped the main point of his story.

Finn looked a little sheepish as he answered, “I guess I just feel sorry for the guy.”

“Why?” Rose demanded, throwing a cushion at him in frustration. “Tell us already!”

“Have either of you had the privilege of meeting our founder, Leia?”

The girls shook their heads.

“She was a force of nature,” Finn sighed. “Amazing woman. Brilliant and beautiful, an Alpha amongst Alphas. Poe was Ben’s classmate, and when Ben started acting out and running with the wrong crowd, Leia began treating Poe like a surrogate son. He was an Alpha as well, after all. And the wilder Ben got, the closer she became to Poe. He was always by Leia’s side, her second in command in some respects. She mentored him throughout his college years and Poe spent all his holidays in so-called internship programs at First Order. He was Leia’s shadow, doing everything she wanted.”

“Please don’t tell me this is gonna be some Mrs Robinson crap,” Rose groaned, referencing The Graduate with its May-December romance.

Finn shook his head. “Nah, Leia and Han were the real deal, love at first sight and all that.”

“Leia just wanted her son back,” Rey spoke up pensively. “It wasn’t fair on Poe, but he probably thought he’d find himself in the driver’s seat of the company once Leia retired.”

“Bullseye,” Finn said, sounding impressed. “You’re on fire, peanut.”

Rey saw Rose bristle at the pet name and quickly asked, “So what went wrong?”

“Leia fell sick,” Finn said simply. “Her death came as a total shock. Han was like a zombie in his grief, so Luke stepped in to help with the company. We all know the story after that. Han died in the crash, and Ben disappeared into the military. A few years went by and then out of the blue Luke decided it was time for Ben to come home and take over the reins. It was a huge disappointment for Poe.”

Rose sat back on the couch, absentmindedly tugging on a thick brown curl of hair. “It’s not like Poe Dameron’s been left begging for coins by the side of the road,” she argued. “I mean, he’s First Order’s Chief Financial Officer. That’s nothing to sneeze at.”

“True,” Rey said, her mind whirling with all the information Finn had just laid on them, “but imagine thinking you’re being groomed to be emperor, and then ending up as the grand vizier.”

“Wasn’t that the storyline from Aladdin?” Rose giggled.

Rey couldn’t help a snort of laughter. “Nope, Jaffar wanted to be sultan. Subtle difference.” Her comment earned her another flying cushion from Rose.

“So you agree with me,” Finn said excitedly. “Poe should be the one running First Order.”

Rey shook her head, “That’s not what I said,” she replied, trying to quash her need to defend Ben.

Finn frowned. “You just spent the last twenty minutes complaining about Solo. The guy’s been a monster to you.”

Rey was taken aback by this. “I never said monster,” she protested. “I mean, Ben’s hard to work for, but he clearly loves his mother’s company. You should see his plans for expansion. They’re incredible.”

Finn was looking at her as if she’d grown a second head. “Oh, really,” he said suspiciously. “And what might these plans look like?”

Rey opened her mouth to answer and then shut it again. “I can’t. I signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement.”

“Come on,” Rose teased, “it’s just us.”

But Rey found herself unable to talk about her work. She couldn’t break Ben’s confidence.

“I thought I knew you, Rey,” Finn said mockingly, “but you’ve changed since you joined the seventieth floor.”

“Shut up,” Rey said uncomfortably. “That’s so not true.”

“Prove it,” Finn grinned. “Tell me about those models in mermaid costumes again.”

Finn had to raise his hands to defend himself against a barrage of cushions and other random stuffed animals flung by both girls.

Rey was pleased when the conversation turned to less intense things, like what to have for lunch and whether or not they should go camping over the weekend (Finn was a big fan, Rose less so though she was willing to be persuaded into spending a night in a sleeping bag next to Finn, and Rey couldn’t see the point of sleeping on the ground when she had a perfectly good bed at home).

As the friendly bickering continued, Rey wondered if their past was the reason why Ben allowed himself to be persuaded to go to Poe’s choice of club. Was he making up for the fact that he’d taken the spot Ben’s own mother intended for Poe? In the brief time she’d been with them, it was Poe who’d been the most thirsty for both alcohol and women.

She then told herself not to be naïve. Ben had a harem of gorgeous women throwing themselves at him in the club. He enjoyed it too. Hadn’t he walked out of Designated with Kaydel, the very woman he knew insulted Rey?

She wished she didn’t feel so betrayed by his choice of companion. It wasn’t like Ben owed her anything. After all, he was her boss.

Rey tried to put Ben Solo out of her mind while enjoying a three hour almost-dinner with her friends at their favourite Japanese restaurant. This was where she should have been last night instead of stuck in the club with Solo and Dameron.

By the time she got home it was nearly seven. She was woozy from too much sashimi and the sake Finn insisted on ordering. Rey was looking forward to a lazy evening in front of the television when her cell phone rang.

She picked it up, hoping it wasn’t Rose or Finn to say she’d forgotten something.

“’Ello,” she greeted her caller, sliding into the cockney accent she sometimes assumed for a laugh.

There was stunned silence on the other end.

Rey stared at her phone, confused. It was a private number. “Hello?” she tried again.

“Omega.”

The single word was spoken with so much authority that Rey had to find a seat. The nearest surface ended up being her bedside table, and she bumped her fake Tiffany lamp with her ass.

“Where are you, Omega?”

Rey clutched the phone. “Um, at home? In my bedroom.” As soon as the words slipped out, she cringed.

Why would she say that to her boss? It _was_ him, wasn’t it?

“Mr Solo?” she clarified shakily.

“Who else would it be?” he snapped, and she bit her lip before she could whimper an apology. “Are you alone, Omega?”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered.

“Good girl,” he purred, his voice as dark as the inside of an underwater cavern.

Rey squirmed as slick gushed out of her, ruining another perfectly good pair of panties. Her nipples tightened, flesh warming.

“We need to talk,” Ben said, his words a command.

Rey was glad she was already sitting down since her knees had turned to jelly. “W-why, Mr Solo?”

He was silent for so long she nearly spoke his name to make sure he hadn’t dropped out.

“To discuss your calculations, Omega. Why else?”

Rey felt her face burn with mortification. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she stop humiliating herself before this Alpha?

“It’s Saturday evening,” she said, attempting to challenge his request even though her instinct was to start running in his direction.

“Do you have plans tonight, Omega?” His voice had turned dangerous.

_Alpha is upset!_

_Please Alpha, soothe Alpha, make Alpha happy._

Rey wanted to make up something about seeing Rose but her biology had her trapped.

“N-no, sir.”

“Then why are you being a disobedient little Omega?”

Rey clapped a hand over her mouth before she could begin to grovel.

“Don’t you want to be good… for me?”

Her breath hitched in her throat and she tipped her head back. She spread her legs, sliding a hand up her skirt before she could even register what she was doing.

“Yes, Alpha,” she whimpered, realising too late that she’d referred to Ben Solo by his designation.

_Oh, no._

_Alpha, Alpha, Alpha!_

_No!_

_Alpha, Alpha, Alpha!_

“Rey…”

He hadn’t called her Omega, she realised in panic. He’d said her name. Had she displeased him?

Rey told herself not to be a fool. Ben must have realised she was losing control. Calling her by name would help settle her nerves.

“I’m sending you my address. Take a cab and I’ll pay for it when you arrive.”

“How- how do you have my number?” she asked all of a sudden.

“You work for me, Omega,” he sighed. “I have all your personal information.”

_Alpha knows everything…_

“Oh, okay,” Rey said, nodding even though he couldn’t see her.

Her fingers itched to slide under the elastic of her underwear.

“No delays,” Ben said, even as her phone pinged with what was undoubtedly his text.

“I just need to…” _shower and change my panties._

“Now, Omega,” he growled.

And Rey found herself outside on the sidewalk, one hand in the air to hail a cab.


	5. Blood Moon

Rey knew she was in trouble when she caught a glimpse of her taxi’s dashboard mounted GPS and saw the drive to Ben Solo’s residence was going to take over two hours.

She sank into the ripped vinyl of the back seat, her heart in her stomach. The only thing she’d brought with her was her phone.

She was tempted to text Rose and let her know where she was headed, but this wasn’t some blind date she’d organised through a questionable app. No, she’d been called into a meeting by the CEO of First Order International.

Everything was fine, wasn’t it? This was all legitimate and above board.

 _Alpha…_ her Omega nerve endings whimpered, but Rey ruthlessly stomped on them.

There was no question about whether she’d text Finn. Rey didn’t think she’d tell him about the meeting even after the fact. He’d been strangely emotional when relaying the Skywalker family saga. She shook her head, tucking away Finn’s odd behaviour for another day.

Perhaps she should close her eyes and nap. That might burn off some of the alcohol molecules making her feel so sluggish.

Yeah, right. She was so tightly wound it would be a miracle if she could relax long enough to fall asleep.

The miles sped by and before she knew it her driver was pulling up to enormous black and gold wrought iron gates. She spotted discrete cameras on top of grey stone posts.

The cab driver twisted around in his seat to stare at her, as if to say, “What now?”

Rey got out of the car and walked slowly up to the gates. Set into the left post was a sleek black intercom system. Before she could touch a button, however, it crackled to life.

“Finally,” Ben’s voice growled, distorted by the system’s speaker. It turned his dark tone into an even deeper electronic bass.

The big gates began to swing open and Rey scrambled back into the taxi.

The driver took her along a winding road fenced in by towering pine trees. Even though it was nightfall, a dozen or so decorative lamp posts were scattered across the manicured front lawn, hinting at acres of land. The pebbled road finally turned into a circular driveway of crushed white shell, glowing in the moonlight.

The centre of the driveway was dominated by a towering rock formation that also served as a fountain. The stone figure of a man was perched atop mossy boulders, a sword strapped to his hip. Jets of water rained down from his hands, fingers extended as if he were fighting against some kind of immovable force. The entire creation sat in the middle of a raised pool of water.

That was impressive enough, but as Rey disembarked from the cab she realised the structure behind it was no ordinary family home. It was a mansion on gargantuan scale.

The property flowed in a rough semicircle, the central building five storeys tall, the staggered construction sharing deep blue slate roofs and brilliant white stone veneer walls. Soaring pillars dominated the main facade, with broad shuttered windows and intricate white plaster detailing. The mansion shone thanks to huge floodlights set discretely in lush bushes.

Before Rey could take a breath, carved mahogany front doors swung open and a tall, thin man in a grey suit rushed over, his white hair wispy over a pink skull, blue eyes rheumy with age.

“Welcome, miss,” he said, his voice so posh she had a flashback to her own childhood attending school with mean girls who had nicknames like Poppy and Binkie, since it didn’t matter what you were called when your father was an Earl from the court of King George V. “My name is Threepio and I run the Skywalker-Solo household. Master Ben is waiting for you.”

Rey had the sudden panicked impulse to get back into the cab and demand the driver take her home immediately. She didn’t care if it bankrupted her, she was so far out of her depth just standing in the driveway of this place.

But Threepio had already bustled forward and was extending a credit card to pay her fare. The driver processed the money and left with haste more suited to a getaway car after a bank robbery.

Hmph. At least she wasn’t the only one intimidated by her surroundings.

“Follow me, Miss Rey,” Threepio beamed, leading her up a series of shallow stone steps and through those impressive mahogany doors.

Rey swallowed another gasp as she walked into a foyer that took advantage of at least two of the five floors of the main building. A crystal chandelier blazed above head from lofty ceilings, showing to great advantage polished cream marble floors and marigold yellow walls.

A sweeping central staircase with an intricately carved wooden balustrade and crimson and gold carpeted steps drew the eye to a life-sized portrait of the Skywalker-Solo family. Leia wore a magnificent gown of blue velvet and was seated on a throne-like chair, her husband Han stood behind her in a black tux, one hand on her shoulder, and Ben was further forward at her right hand. This was a teenage Ben with eyes like black flame and a softer, more vulnerable profile.

Rey wished she could applaud the artist since they had managed to capture all of Ben’s awkward rage and indisputable promise with a few brush strokes. She couldn’t imagine being friends with that Ben, hormonal and lacking impulse control. The current one was problem enough.

“Miss?” Threepio trilled, looking nervous. “Master Ben was quite insistent I bring you straight through.”

Rey nearly rolled her eyes.

She couldn’t believe her boss’s audacity at calling her to his private residence on a Saturday night. It was already nine pm for goodness’ sake. He would probably speak to her for ten minutes before sending her home again, uncaring that she’d reach her own bed after midnight.

Rey followed behind Threepio, trying to hold on to her irritation. She could use it as a shield against this Alpha just in case her Omega libido reawakened.

She told herself again how glad she was that Ben found her unattractive, even though she couldn’t seem to get Kaydel’s taunting voice out of her head.

_You’re not Ben’s type._

The butler led her around the central staircase to a drawing room that dominated the ground floor of the main building. It was a huge expanse with archways but no doors, its walls painted a delicate celadon green, its floors the same glossy cream marble. The furniture in the room was clearly bespoke, made of the most gorgeous tan leather, armchairs and couches and divans covered in pale gold cushions set in sociable clusters. It was enough room to fit a hundred guests. More crystal light fixtures adorned an intricately plastered ceiling.

Ben stood at the far end of the room, a cell phone pressed to his ear.

He spotted her as she drew closer and Threepio discreetly melted away. Ben’s gaze held Rey’s as she walked toward him on legs that rapidly grew shakier. He made no other acknowledgement of her arrival, and yet she was once again overwhelmed by his presence.

Ben Solo at home was a bloody revelation.

He fulfilled all promise of Alpha masculinity from his unruly black mane of hair to his thickly muscled shoulders and chest, on display in a red plaid shirt. Ripped black jeans clung to lean hips and hard-muscled thighs, the distractingly faded button fly outlining the shape of his sex.

Rey forced her gaze to the floor before the flutter of her pulse became something more problematic. She was surprised to see Ben barefoot. He had big feet.

Damnit, even that was sexy.

She could hear mellow humour in his voice as he spoke to whoever it was on the other end of the line. Rey wondered with a twinge of jealousy if it was Kaydel, though the blonde seemed to be more a naked-picture-via-text kind of girl.

“Her name is Mara Jade? Does she also have seashells braided in her hair?” Ben paused. “Yes, I’m being sarcastic.” He laughed then, doubling Rey’s heart rate. “Let’s not compare score cards, Uncle Luke. I gotta go. Yeah, yeah, Artoo’s fine. I’m not sure why you didn’t just take him with you… No, I don’t know what animal quarantine is like in the Maldives. Good night, old man. You too.”

Ben hung up and stared at his phone in bemusement. “He actually sounded happy for once. Maybe this time’s for real.”

Rey wondered if she was expected to respond when a deep rumble of a voice declared, “Luke is destined to be a grumpy old man annoying the natives on some island in the middle of nowhere. I’m not sure a girlfriend fits that scenario.”

She turned to stare at the huge man unfolding himself from an armchair. Ben was big but this guy must have had another six inches on him. He was handsome in a shaggy, unkept kind of way with skin the colour of teak, intelligent dark eyes and an impressive headful of bushy grey hair.

That watchful gaze assessed Rey with some surprise.

“This is your actuarial scientist?” he asked gruffly. “No wonder you invited her over.”

Rey turned pink, unsure whether the big man was kidding.

“Go to bed, Chewie,” Ben said, his tone mild.

The older man shuffled away, but not before giving Rey a conspiring wink.

Rey felt like she was well and truly on the back foot. She’d spent a two hour cab ride trying to prepare herself for grumpy Ben Solo, and instead she was being presented with his relaxed identical twin.

Also, it appeared Ben maintained communication with his Uncle Luke. His behaviour was more family-friendly than Rey had expected.

“Hi,” she said awkwardly, since Ben looked like he was waiting on her to start the ball rolling.

“Have you had dinner?” he asked, surprising her.

“Um, no, but I’m not hungry. I ate a boatload of sushi in the late afternoon,” she confessed, the pink in her cheeks deepening as he arched a brow.

“Well, there’s drinks and fruit if you’d like something,” he said, waving his hand toward a coffee table that did not resemble Rose’s flea market find at all.

This piece of furniture looked like it had been created from a single slab of oak, the knots and whorls of the wood giving it character. On a silver tray were two crystal jugs of drink and a bowl of the glossiest, most perfectly ripe fruit she’d ever seen.

Even his snacks were better.

“Who was the man?” she asked before she lost her nerve. Rey figured Ben owed her one since he’d interrupted her weekend.

“My head of security,” he answered affably. “Chewbacca started out as my dad’s personal bodyguard. He was the only one my father could stand having around.”

“So you’ve known him for years,” Rey murmured.

“All my life,” Ben said, walking over to an armchair and sitting down. He pointed at the couch across from him and Rey obeyed his unspoken instruction.

She perched on the edge of an incredibly soft leather three-seater, wondering if it would be acceptable to pluck a perfect red strawberry from the silver fruit bowl. It glowed like the forbidden fruit must have in the Garden of Eden.

“And who’s the guy in the fountain?” she asked, since Ben seemed in an expansive mood.

For the second time since her arrival she heard him laugh, the sound warming her heart. His dark chocolate Alpha scent was a light fragrance rather than a choking cloud.

“That’s my grandfather, Anakin Skywalker.”

Rey frowned. “Anakin… How do I know that name? Was he famous too?”

Ben’s expression shifted, becoming closed off.

Suddenly, it clicked. “Wait- your grandfather was the senator who tried to pass a law reducing Omegas to chattel. His bill called for Omega females to be collared at all times. He was a tyrant!”

Ben sighed wearily, and Rey realised he’d had to defend his ancestor before. He crossed his right ankle over his left knee. “Why do you think my mother fought so hard for Omega and Beta rights? She was rebelling against dear old dad.”

Rey frowned. “But Leia kept the statue.”

“Have you seen that thing?” Ben demanded. “It would take a team of bulldozers to rip it down. Grandfather made sure he was remembered. Besides, he wasn’t all bad. He genuinely thought he was protecting Omegas.”

“Yeah, right,” Rey scoffed.

“No, really,” her boss persisted. “Anakin adored my grandmother, Padme. She was an Omega and they were mated. He couldn’t stand being away from her for too long. When she died giving birth to my mother and her twin, grandfather lost it. He was never the same after that.”

“You’re seriously going to defend him?” Rey spluttered.

Ben gave her a considering look. “How much do you know about my family?”

Rey hesitated, Finn’s diatribe coming back to her.

“Relax,” her boss murmured, “it was a rhetorical question. You may not know this but my father was Beta, my mom an Alpha. Growing up… it was hard trying to subdue my Alpha tendencies when everything in me demanded I dominate my dad.”

“That must have been tough,” Rey said, shocked to realise she was getting a glimpse of the real Ben Solo.

“To put it mildly,” he muttered. “Anakin was my refuge; an Alpha role model I could aspire to. He meant a lot to me despite his obsession with the safekeeping of Omegas.”

“I suppose,” Rey said hesitantly.

Ben smirked. “I’m not asking your permission to feel the way I do about my own family, Omega.”

And just like that, she was blushing again. “N-no, of course not.”

“My turn,” he said crisply. “First of all, what the hell are you wearing?”

Rey looked down at herself, feeling foolish. Considering Ben wasn’t in a suit, she’d hoped he wouldn’t comment on her appearance.

She was wearing a grey t-shirt with the yellow badger house emblem of Hufflepuff emblazoned across it. It had been warm when she’d gone out with Rose and Finn, so she’d failed to put on a jacket. Or bra. Now that night had fallen, however, her nipples were doing their best to poke through the soft cotton.

Her denim miniskirt had been washed so often it was fraying around the hem and was more white than blue. On her feet were pink and white sneakers with purple striped socks. Her chestnut red hair had dropped out of their ubiquitous three buns and she’d tried to be presentable by pulling them into twin ponytails.

“You said not to delay,” Rey protested weakly. “I wanted to change but…”

Ben shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I thought for sure you’d be in Ravenclaw.”

Rey’s mouth fell open. Was Ben Solo really suggesting she needed to be in the Hogwarts house known for its cleverness? Had she fallen down a rabbit hole and arrived in a land where down was up?

“I- I…” she stammered.

But he’d moved on. “I asked you here to talk about your findings,” he said, abruptly shifting gears.

Rey nodded. This was safer ground. “The final report will be ready for you on Monday…”

“I know that,” he snapped, resuming his office demeanour. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about your preliminary numbers. They seemed to indicate the report I paid for was bogus.”

“Yes, that is what it looks like,” Rey replied meekly.

“Don’t just agree with me, Omega,” he said irritably. “Explain your findings.”

She flushed. “If I had the electronic pad, sir, I could show you where the market research team inputted the wrong information. Their numbers were off, but not all the time. There was enough accurate information in the report that you would have needed to really study it to see the errors.”

“How could this have happened?”

Rey swallowed hard, not liking the accusation she was about to make. “Either the research team was given partially falsified data or they were paid to botch the findings. Which means…”

“Someone’s trying to sabotage my plans to expand First Order,” Ben said, finishing her statement. His eyes were dark, the amber submerged. “That’s all I need right now. A rat in my house.”

“I’m sorry,” Rey said.

He laughed, but this time the sound was cold and without humour. “That’s business, Omega. It’s as bloodthirsty as any battlefield.”

Ben fell silent, his eyes on a point beyond her and Rey wondered if he’d forgotten she was there. She fidgeted on the couch, discreetly checking the time on her cell phone. She wanted to get home before it was too late.

“Omega,” he said all of a sudden, making her jump. “Your findings stay between us until I know what’s going on. I can’t trust anyone.”

She nodded, speaking earnestly. “I won’t tell a soul, sir. You can depend on me.”

“Can I?” he asked, his tone dangerous.

Rey stared at him round-eyed, unsure what she’d done to upset Ben this time. “Shall I call for a taxi, sir?” she asked nervously. Surely she’d overstayed her welcome.

He stood and walked over to her side of the coffee table, joining her on the couch. Rey felt her limbs loosen as she was bathed in a cloud of Ben’s unmistakeable scent. She wanted to undress and swim in him, lick her way from his toes to his scent gland until he was shiny from her saliva alone…

Rey flinched, forcibly pulling herself out of her lust stupor.

Careful… she had to be careful.

“It’s too late for sweet little Omegas to be roaming the streets,” Ben murmured, his deep, smooth voice hypnotic.

“S-sir?”

“You’ll spend the night, of course.” He plucked the strawberry she’d been eyeing since she’d sat down and took a luscious bite, offering her the remainder of the fruit. “With me.”

All evening she’d been relatively calm, but now at his words Rey felt desire pool in the gusset of her already sticky panties, the blood in her veins simmering.

She realised she’d only been in control because he’d allowed it. When it came to Ben Solo, she was powerless.

“Eat,” he commanded, as if he’d read her mind and was proving her point.

Rey shuffled a little closer to her boss, leaning in so she could nibble the fruit. She was acutely aware his lips and teeth had already touched it.

The explosion of sweetness from the berry combined with a trace of his saliva undid her completely. Rey was unable to suppress a tiny moan as her wet cunt clenched like a fist, hungry for his cock, his knot… desperate to be tethered to this male.

Ben’s nostrils flared, black pupils blowing wide. “Your suppressant aren’t worth a damn, Omega,” he said, his voice gone husky and hot. “All week you’ve been stewing in my office like a piece of fruit so ripe its juices have burst the skin.”

“I’m sorry, Alpha,” Rey whimpered, the designation falling from her lips with ease.

She _was_ sorry. So sorry. She would show this Alpha just how far she’d go to apologise.

Ben reached for her, one big hand wrapping around the back of her neck, pulling her towards him so that the gland on her neck was exposed. Tenderly, he kissed the blood engorged flesh. Rey began to shake.

“I’m going to fuck you, Omega,” he said, his tongue sliding out to lick her right there. “It’ll help you sleep better.”

Rey would have cut off her own hand before she backed away from Ben’s touch. Her virginal Omega glands were singing. “Y-yes, please, Alpha,” she gasped.

This was happening. This was really happening.

Rey Jackson, who’d never even been with a man except for a few fumbling make-out sessions, was about to be claimed by the most aggressive Alpha she’d ever met, a male who was both her boss and the bane of her life.

She couldn’t wait.


	6. First Blood

“Why did you come here, Omega?”

Ben’s hand was still around the back of her neck, his grip firm but not tight. His other hand rested on the seat next to her hip, trapping her within his arms. His head dipped low and he spoke close to her ear.

“Answer me. Why did you come to my home?”

Confused, Rey wondered if it was a trick question. “You asked me here.” She was desperately trying to regulate her breath, her pulse skittering like a child on skates.

“I thought you didn’t like Alphas,” he murmured against the pulsing gland on her neck.

She bit back a whimper. “You- you’re my boss.”

He shook his head, a thick lock of raven black hair brushing her cheek. “You could have lied. Made up plans. Why, Omega?” Another tender lick of her gland. “Why?”

She moaned, one shaky hand resting on the warm flannel of the plaid shirt that made him look like the sexiest lumberjack on earth.

Didn’t he know he’d already won?

“I wanted to be with you, Alpha.” She bowed her head, embarrassed by the admission.

All her life she’d told herself she was above it, stronger than her biology, better than those women generations ago who would abase themselves for an Alpha cock. She had a prescription that made her bullet proof, an educated mind and a strong will. But now… now she was just like them.

“I want to see,” Ben growled. “I want to see that cunt you’ve been hiding under all your hideous skirts.”

Rey was on her feet, eager to obey, peeling off her t-shirt, wriggling out of her miniskirt. She whimpered when Ben grabbed her by narrow hips and pulled her close, his face inches away from her soaking wet crotch.

“Nice underwear,” he teased, and Rey saw they were blue cotton with little white daisies.

She cringed on the inside, wishing she’d updated her wardrobe instead of continuing to dress like a schoolgirl. Kaydel would have been in a lace thong, she was sure of it.

And then all thought of the blonde vanished from her mind when Ben leaned in and pressed his impressive nose into the moist gusset of her underwear. He breathed her in like a drowning man who’d found a pocket of air.

“Fuck,” he groaned, just before he licked a juicy stripe along her panty-covered slit.

Rey’s knees weakened, more slick gushing out of her like she was a tap and Ben had manipulated the handle. He dug his thumbs into the waistband of her panties and peeled them off, Rey grabbing his shoulders as he helped her step out of them. He tossed the ruined pair onto the armchair across from them, mumbling something about a souvenir.

“Look at all your honey, Omega,” he said, sounding impressed. “Even your thighs are covered in slick.”

Rey’s face burned in shame, but she was too far gone now to want to stop. “Please, Alpha,” she whimpered, “please, I need…”

“Don’t beg,” Ben snarled, lifting his eyes from her pussy for the briefest of moments. “We do this one way only, and that’s my way. Naughty little Omegas with overripe cunts don’t get a say.”

Rey was nearly sobbing with desire, her breath coming in gasps. Ben gripped her by the backs of her thighs, pulling her legs further apart. Dimly she realised she still had on her socks and sneakers.

Her plump mound was completely smooth, like most unmated Omegas, embarrassingly saturated with clear juices. He dragged a finger through her delicate pink slit, making her shudder, the callused tip catching on the hard kernel of her clit. She whined.

“You’re so small,” he murmured, the warmth of his breath fanning over the skin of her silken mound. “Tiny. I’m going to have to stretch you out, Omega.”

Rey blinked down at Ben, standing before him on wobbly legs in a haze of carnal longing. She squealed when he stood up, wrapping his hands around her waist and dropping her onto the couch. He positioned her limbs as if she were a doll, getting to his knees between her outspread legs.

Rey mewled like a kitten when he peeled off his shirt, revealing a broad chest made up of thick slabs of muscle. Unlike her tanned, freckled self, Ben was pale, an Adonis sculpted out of marble.

He gripped the backs of her knees and began kissing his way up one inner thigh, licking up slick that had drizzled there like runny icing, gently kissing his way over her nether lips, and then down the other thigh.

“You taste sweet,” he mumbled, his lush mouth shiny with juices by the time they’d completed their journey. He bent over to slide the tip of his tongue along the seam of her pink slit and Rey cried out, another gush of slick oozing out of her.

“Damn, Omega,” he snapped, “you’re ruining my couch.”

She was mortified. “I’m s-sorry, Alpha. Do you have a cloth we could lay down or…”

Ben slapped her thigh, the sting making her gasp. “Shut up, Omega. I’d rather re-upholster than stop now.” And he dragged his tongue through the puddle of slick she’d left on his leather seat as if making a point.

Rey fell back against the couch, desperate for an orgasm but not wanting to upset Ben by asking for one. He’d said she wasn’t allowed. She’d been at tipping point ever since her nibble of the strawberry, her brain swollen by his scent and her own need.

_Please, Alpha. Please, please, please…_

He lifted his head and her thighs twitched. She pressed her lips together, desperate not to say a word. To obey.

His amber gaze flicked over her compressed lips and gritted jaw. A small smile curved his mouth. “Good Omega.”

Her spirit soared as Ben pressed his dark head between her legs, driving his big tongue into her soft, snug pink slot. He French kissed her with dedication normally reserved for saving lives, with an intensity that told her he was enjoying himself as much as she was.

The flat of his tongue slid over the hard little spiral of her clit and that was it, she was coming. Rey convulsed, back arching until her spine cracked, her thighs locking tight around Ben’s head. Her lips parted but she made no sound except a choking exhalation of air.

She felt him growl into her wet pussy as her flesh wept all over again, drinking her slick like he’d never tasted anything better. His tongue roved inside her velvet tunnel, exploring deep and true.

Rey whined when Ben lifted his head, slick smeared over his lips and jaw.

“Such a tiny cunt,” he murmured, reaching for the fruit bowl. He picked a dusky purple plum with a circumference of roughly two inches.

Rey stared. “A-alpha?”

Ben palmed the fruit. He held her down effortlessly, one hand on her flat belly while he hooked her legs over his broad shoulders.

“Alpha?” Rey asked again, her breath hitching in her throat.

“Hush,” he said, his voice a low husk. “Are you mine, Omega? Mine to fuck as I please?”

Her pussy convulsed, bathing pink flesh in more honey.

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Are you sure?”

Rey gave a sob, so very desperate to have Ben inside her, her recent orgasm already a distant memory. “Anything for you, Alpha.”

He paused, tilting his head as if seeing her for the first time. “Anything?”

Rey pointed her sneakered feet in the air, calves resting on his bare shoulders. “I’m all yours, Alpha.”

Ben’s lip curled and he bared his canines. “Careful, Omega. You don’t want to start my rut.”

Rey stiffened where she lay, his black gaze piercing her soul. Wasn’t a rut triggered by a female in heat?

“And you definitely don’t want me imagining you in heat,” he growled.

She bit her lower lip. Had she spoken out loud?

Ben’s eyes widened.

Rey’s mouth fell open. He was reading her thoughts.

And as if to deny what had taken place he surged forward, one hand grasping her knee and forcing it all the way back until it pressed against her tight breast, the other hand pushing the smooth, yielding globe of fruit past the aching tightness of her pussy lips, spreading the petals of her sex, sliding the plum inside her.

She clutched at the soft leather of the couch, eyes going wide as she felt her core invaded. “Oh!” she gasped.

“Good girl, Omega,” he murmured, sliding on his knees so his face was inches from where the plum peeked out of her cunt.

Rey whimpered when he slipped one finger inside her, stretching her even more, holding the fruit still as he bent down and took a bite. Ben swallowed with evident satisfaction, swiping his tongue all over her outer lips and teasing the hard bud of her clit before taking another bite.

She squirmed as he settled into a rhythm, a bite of plum, a suckle of her clit, his tongue scooping up slick now mingled with even sweeter fruit juices. She climaxed once more, her contracting muscles nearly pushing the half consumed fruit out of her, but her Alpha was there to gently press it back in, returning to his meal as if she wasn’t a mess of pleasure and need, her face flushed, her hair come undone from their fastenings and tumbling over erect pink nipples.

At last he finished the last of the plum, Rey’s thighs trembling wildly in his grasp, her cunt slippery wet and still oozing, on the brink of yet another orgasm. Ben stood and she wailed, instinctively reaching out for him. He slapped her hand away with a chuckle.

“Based on previous conversations, I assume I’m your first Alpha,” he said, grasping her feet one by one and pulling off scuffed sneakers and stripey socks.

Rey nodded and he tightened his grip on an ankle.

“Speak when spoken to, Omega,” he snarled.

“Yes, Alpha,” she said quickly, little breasts heaving as if she’d run a mile.

“Mmm,” he grunted, dropping her legs.

His big hand unsnapped his belt buckle, allowing the piece of leather to drop to the floor. Rey felt like Pavlov’s dog, trained to gush slick at anything this male did.

“I can’t promise restraint, Omega,” he said, unbuttoning his fly. “Already my self-control is slipping.”

She didn’t care and told him so with her thoughts, her eyes hungrily following his movements. He peeled off his jeans and her slick, having slowed to a trickle, once more flowed like a river. He wasn’t wearing underwear, his long, thick cock and full, smooth balls on display. His manhood rose hard and swollen in the air, the bulbous tip shiny with pre-come.

Rey was no longer in charge of her behaviour, her Omega hind brain almost delirious with joy. She flipped over onto her knees so that her hands gripped the back of the couch and her pert ass pointed at Ben, offering herself like a bitch in heat.

Except she wasn’t in heat. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to be that far gone, locked in sexual congress with this Alpha for almost a week.

She had to stop thinking like that; her cunt was contracting in needy tremors, slick oozing out of her like honey from a cracked jar. She was already losing her mind.

Rey turned to look at Ben over her freckled shoulder, big hazel eyes shining. She’d never wanted anything like she wanted him. This was fundamental and primal, a coming together that seemed written in the stars.

Ben looked strangely overcome, breathing hard, one hand wrapped around his big cock. He was speaking almost to himself. “We weren’t supposed to go this far, Omega. I just wanted a taste. You’re too small for me. I’ll split you in half…”

She nearly screamed in frustration, flexing her bottom, spreading her legs as wide as they would go. “Please, Alpha, I need you.”

The little humanity left on Ben’s face fled. His eyes were as dark as night as he stepped forward, his jaw hard with lust. There were no preliminaries this time; he sheathed his manhood deep inside her cunt in one wild thrust.

Alongside the pure bliss of being filled past reckoning, Rey experienced a moment of white hot clarity. This was it; this was what her whole life had been building up to. Ben pressed into her on the couch, his thighs straddling hers, broad chest leaning over her taut back. He fitted his mouth to her neck, finding her throbbing gland and sucking it between sharp teeth.

She squealed, shuddering beneath him, the movement causing his thick shaft to rub against her aching clit. Her body exploded in an orgasm so protracted she fainted. When she came to, it was with the realisation she was being well and thoroughly fucked.

Her Alpha had one arm wrapped around her midriff, holding her up while he moved his hips, pumping his steel hard erection in and out of her snug velvet tunnel. He was so broad that his meat teased and rubbed at her clit with every stroke, the tiny bundle of nerves buzzing.

Every thrust brought his thighs slapping against her buttocks, the erotic sound of flesh meeting flesh filling the luxurious drawing room. His other hand was buried in her hair, tugging so her head was tilted to one side, exposing the gland he nibbled like a candy treat.

Rey shuddered and moaned her way through another orgasm, her wet velvet walls closing down around his stiff shaft, choking his cock until Ben shouted.

“Fuck, Omega, I’ve popped a knot,” he gasped.

She heard him without any real understanding, drowning in a sea of pleasure and pheromones.

“I need you, Omega,” he said, his breath hot on her cheek. “I need you to take all of me.”

He grabbed one wrist and tugged her arm behind her, pressing her fingers onto the hot, hard bulge of flesh that had swelled around the base of his cock. They both shuddered as her fingers closed around his knot.

Rational thought attempted to claw back the lust that enveloped her mind. It was too big… too wide and thick for her to handle.

“No, Alpha, I- I can’t,” she whined.

His hips hadn’t stopped hammering into her, his thick shaft sliding in and out of her cunt like a well-oiled piston. “You have to, Omega,” he growled. “Be a good bitch and make your Alpha proud.”

Ben reached around and found the stiff bud of her clit. He rubbed his thumb across it in slow circles, sending Rey into paroxysms of pleasure, making her come yet again. Just when she thought she would explode from sheer bliss, he pushed forward, easing the hard bulge of his knot inside her slick tunnel.

“Alpha!” she cried, coming still as his knot stroked her swollen button.

Her cunt swallowed him whole, wet flesh gripping his bulge like a silk scarf pulled tight. Ben howled, a wolf on a cliff facing a full moon, his climax gripping him in a full body bind. His release was plentiful and hot, filling her until his essence began to seep out of her slit.

Rey was overcome with satisfaction. Alpha had claimed her, was inside her, filling her womb. She had taken his cock and his knot like a good Omega. She would have his pups, more than one litter, three at a time if she could.

_Alpha, Alpha, Alpha, Alpha, Alpha…_

Ben’s knot gripped her, threatening to split her in half. He held her close as he lay on the couch, taking her with him. Rey shook and shivered in his arms, every quiver of her cunt making him grunt and release another jet of seed. This lasted several minutes, until her womb could take no more and every climax only served to push their combined juices outside of their joined bodies.

At last his knot began to shrink. Rey waited dazedly for Ben to slip out of her, but he was not done. His manhood remained as thick and strong as a tree root buried deep in the ground. His lips returned to her throbbing gland, his tongue laving the tender flesh as he began to move his hips once more.

He pounded her cunt for hours, his stiff, swollen shaft splitting her tight, slick tunnel, invading her sex, claiming her body. Twice more he popped a knot, working the hard bulge inside her tender slit. Once done, he came with a snuffling grunt, shooting jets of hot seed deep inside her womb, tireless in his attention. Rey held on as best she could, slipping in and out of consciousness, delirious with pleasure and need.

Dawn was breaking through the windows by the time Ben exhausted himself. Rey was so fatigued her limbs had turned to rubber. The couch was a mess of fluids, their naked bodies dripping with sweat and seed.

It should have been disgusting rolling around in their spend, but Rey never wanted to leave the couch, never wanted to leave him.

Ben. Alpha.

He stretched out once more, pulling her into his embrace, big arms wrapping tight around her small, slim form. She nearly disappeared within his hold.

Ben rested his chin on the top of her head and was snoring quietly in seconds. Rey didn’t think she would ever fall asleep.

That was her final thought before she too succumbed.

Rey awoke to a slow, grinding heat between her legs. Her eyes fluttered open, gummy with inertia.

She lay on her side, Ben behind her, cradling her form against his. He’d propped her leg atop his own, spreading her thighs so he could sink his hard cock back inside her snug sheathe.

His thick shaft was moving within her slick cunt, in and out, in and out. Slow and steady, deep and true. She moaned as pleasure built sweet and low in her loins.

“Alpha,” she whispered.

“Good morning, Omega,” he rumbled in her ear.

She shivered as he found her gland, raw from all the attention he’d given it, swiping the tender fold with his tongue.

Rey was so happy she wanted to cry. The literature had never talked about this. All those scientific studies she’d read couldn’t describe how absolutely glorious it was for her, an Omega, to be joined with her Alpha.

Her Alpha.

_No, Rey, don’t do this to yourself._

_My Alpha,_ her Omega hind brain persisted. 

She was euphoric, joy and peace and contentment mingling to make her feel… complete. That was it. She felt tethered; secured to something bigger than herself.

This feeling was more than physical, more than the orgasm blossoming inside her aching cunt, more than the delicious stretch of being filled by an Alpha cock. As an orphan, she never thought she’d feel happy in a way that encompassed both her body and spirit, irrevocably joined to another soul.

Ben finished with a shuddering groan without producing a knot, her accompanying mewls of pleasure pleasing him. She sensed this. They were bonded even though her mating gland pulsed unbroken. Hadn’t he read her thoughts in the night?

He was silent afterwards and she was content to remain in his grasp. At last he sat up, taking her with him, making them both grunt as they stretched sore muscles.

“What a mess,” he muttered, shoving a hand through his riotous black hair.

Rey flushed, enveloped in smug masculine appreciation. They had created this together. Alpha and Omega.

He looked at her and she smiled, twinkling like a star. She couldn’t help it. She was wrecked but oh so happy. Ben gave her a grin that was all male and her heart fluttered. He leaned down, kissing her gently on the nose.

His next words brought reality crashing down around her.

“I have to ask, are you using protection? If not, I can get Threepio to make a trip to the drug store…”

“No!” Rey said, startled. “No… I have something. It’s a booster for my suppressants, but it also makes me infertile for as long as I take it.”

She felt hurt by his question. Ben didn’t want her pregnant… didn’t want her to carry his young.

_Stop it, Rey. Don’t make this into something it’s not._

He drew a relieved breath and she blinked away the sting of tears. Rey attempted to move her stiff legs since they were still entangled with his. The warm glow in her chest was rapidly cooling. It seemed her feelings of beatific togetherness were not reality.

She was indulging in more meaningless Omega sentiment.

She looked around. They weren’t in a bedroom so there were no blankets with which to cover herself.

Rey jumped at Ben’s touch. His hand was gripping her thigh with gentle familiarity that could only come from a lover.

“Why are you bleeding? Did I hurt you?”

Rey hesitated. “Isn’t it normal to bleed when it’s your first time?”

Ben froze, his Alpha suaveness slipping. “You’re a virgin?”

“Not anymore,” she replied, trying to sound cool and breezy, as if she didn’t care that she’d just given him something she could never take back.

“Rey…”

Her name on his lips sounded wrong, unnatural. She’d grown so used to him calling her Omega, as if her designation meant something only he understood.

“Rey, I never meant to force you into anything you didn’t want to do.”

“What?” she said, her spine snapping straight in horror. “No, Ben, I… I wanted to.” And for the first time since they’d met, she didn’t blush while talking to him.

Huh. That was new.

There was the scrabble of feet and she choked back a squeal, effectively ending her hard-won poise. Rey wrapped her arms around herself in a sad effort to try and cover up her naughty bits.

“Artoo! Sit!” Ben yelled, and an orange and white ball of fur came to a sliding halt five feet before the couch.

A pair of big round eyes looked at Rey, pink tongue hanging out, tail wagging a mile a minute. Artoo was a Corgi, a fat, sleek thing with a chunky body that sat low to the ground, his little legs and big ears adorable. He looked like he was smiling at her, his bejewelled blue collar shining in the late morning sunlight.

What time was it? Rey had no idea where her phone had disappeared.

“Is this Luke Skywalker’s dog?” Rey asked as Ben continued to frown at the perky animal.

He shot her a sideways glance. “You do pay attention,” he said almost accusingly. “Yes, he’s Luke’s. I don’t know why he left Artoo with me considering I have no time for pets. Fortunately, Threepio’s adopted him. He won’t admit to it, but I suspect Artoo sleeps in Threepio’s bedroom.”

Ben reached for his discarded jeans and pulled them on, tossing Rey her crumpled t-shirt and denim skirt.

“We need a shower,” she muttered as they got dressed.

He gave her a sensual smile and she turned red.

“I didn’t mean we as in you and I. Together. In a shower,” Rey said, the words stumbling out of her mouth unfiltered. “I mean, if you want to we can. I- I wouldn’t mind, but I wasn’t sure… Do you want to?” She stared at him in anguish, feeling like an idiot.

He laughed, the expression carving dents into his lean cheeks. Rey decided it was a good thing Ben was so grumpy at work. If he looked at her that way all the time, she would have jumped his bones sooner, human resources be damned.

“I think we’re sore enough, don’t you?” he asked in his low voice, husky from a lack of sleep.

She couldn’t have turned any redder.

“Come on,” he said bracingly. “Let’s get cleaned up.”

Artoo led the way as they exited the drawing room.

Rey was so caught up in her own head that she missed seeing Ben retrieve her panties, tucking the cotton garment into his back pocket.


	7. Blood, Sweat and Tears

The guest bathroom Ben led her to was the size of her bedroom, tiled in white with bronze fixtures and stocked with products that promised to bring the invigorating power of ginger into her day.

Rey hesitated to stand under the hot shower, not wanting to wash away evidence of their coupling. It was only upon catching sight of herself in a mirror that she decided to stop behaving like a wild animal.

Once she was pink-cheeked and fresh, her damp hair in a ponytail, she exited the bathroom to discover clean clothes on the bed. She put on an oversized grey hooded Princeton sweater and a pair of black running shorts that ended at her knees. She could smell Ben on the fabric of his clothes and it kept her Omega senses cooing.

Rey followed the smell of crispy bacon to an immaculate kitchen. Threepio stood before an eight-burner hob wielding a spatula, a white apron protecting his grey suit. Artoo circled him on frantic little legs as he flipped pancakes and fried tomatoes.

Ben was already at the kitchen bench, his oversized body perched on a stool, devouring a mound of scrambled eggs on multiple slices of buttered toast.

“Feeling better?” he asked, swallowing a mouthful, already filling his fork for the next bite.

 _No_ , Rey thought to herself and saw him frown.

She froze in horror. Were they still linked? Or was he just reading her face?

“Yes, better, thanks,” she said hastily.

Ben kept eating and she watched him shovel down eggs in fascination. It was a good thing he was rich. The orphanage would have never kept up with his appetite.

Swiping half a dozen slices of bacon from a dish Threepio sat before him, Ben arched a brow in her direction. “You must be hungry.”

Threepio beamed, speaking before she could excuse herself. “How do you like your eggs, Miss Rey?” He ladled several tiny brown sausages onto Ben’s plate.

“Um… scrambled is fine,” she said, giving in to the sights and smells. Her stomach had woken up at last and it felt like her insides were eating themselves.

Rey hopped onto a stool and started filling her plate. Ben had cleared his by the time she took her first bite. He opted for waffles next, slathering them in butter and syrup.

They ate in silence until the gnawing ache inside her receded.

“You’re a great cook, Threepio,” she said as the old man surreptitiously fed Artoo a burnt piece of bacon.

He looked pleased. “Thank you, miss. Can I get you anything else?”

She shook her head, and Ben answered for them both. “You made enough food for my marine unit, Threepio. This is plenty.”

Nodding his head, the smiling butler bowed out, leaving them alone.

“He seems nice,” Rey said, all the food she’d eaten hardening into a lump now that she was alone with Ben.

_Alpha._

No, damnit. He was her boss, not even a friend.

_Alpha?_

Rey tried to focus on Ben’s response.

“I never really appreciated Threepio growing up,” he said, finishing his waffles and eyeing the pancakes. “I guess when all you want is your parents’ attention, someone else’s care is never good enough.”

She blinked, surprised by the vulnerability in his statement. Was he this open with all his girlfriends or was there something special about her?

_Don’t, Rey. Don’t pretend there’s a connection here. He’s already made it clear…_

_What? What has he made clear? That he doesn’t want me pregnant? That’s normal, for crying out loud._

“Can I ask you something personal?” he was saying as he lined up four pancakes into a stack and covered them in whipped cream.

“You can ask,” Rey said tentatively.

Ben shot her a wry smile. “Why were you still a virgin?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, I can understand staying away from Alphas. You clearly don’t like us. But there are plenty of Beta fish in the sea.”

Rey blinked. She’d never actually considered her lack of romantic experience as strange. She’d been too busy studying and saving money and then working to care about boyfriends and marriage.

“I grew up in an orphanage outside of London,” she said, and for the first time since she’d entered the kitchen Ben’s fork stilled. “There was an older girl by the name of Jessika who presented as an Omega at the age of fourteen. She was blonde and had big blue eyes. The director of the place, Plutt, was supposed to inform the government about her to make sure she received all the necessary support as an Omega. Instead, he sold Jessika to an Alpha.”

Rey pushed away the remainder of her hash browns. “Rumour was the Alpha had royal blood, a manor house, lots of money. Some of the girls envied Jess. And then one night we heard a commotion at the front gate. I rushed downstairs with some of the others just in time to see Plutt screaming at Jess. She was all bloody and swollen, beaten within an inch of her life. Some of her bruises were older and beginning to turn yellow.”

Rey took a gulp of juice, her eyes on the sparkling granite countertop even though she knew Ben was watching her closely. “Jess cried and begged on the floor of the front hallway but Plutt didn’t care. Twenty minutes later her Alpha showed up. We never saw her again.”

Rey lifted her eyes at last, meeting his dark gaze. “I swore that would never be me. I would _never_ …” Her voice broke and she paused, fighting for her composure, shocked at the storm of emotions within her. “I would never allow myself to be used by a man, regardless of their designation. I guess it became hardwired inside me. I didn’t trust anyone enough to have sex with them.”

She flushed, realising she’d just told Ben that she _did_ trust him. How was that possible? It couldn’t just be hormones.

She realised he had pushed his food away as well, his face angry.

“How did you escape Plutt?” he asked.

“I was adopted before I presented,” Rey said with a shaky smile. “Owen and Beru weren’t very affectionate but they were kind and decent. They were looking for a maid more than a daughter, but I didn’t care. They saved my life by getting me away from the orphanage. When it became clear I was an Omega, Beru got me suppressants and I learnt to hide my designation. I did well at school and earned a scholarship to attend university.”

Rey realised she’d given Ben an abundance of information. Not even Rose and Finn knew all these details. Certainly, she’d never shared Jessika’s story before.

What was wrong with her? She should have kept her mouth shut. Ben didn’t care. He certainly didn’t need to know. She’d exposed herself for no good reason other than her Omega lust for a big, strong Alpha.

She’d done exactly what she’d promised she never would. She’d given herself away to a man, an Alpha, who could turn around and hurt her with no consequence.

“Rey, I’m so sorry,” Ben said. He reached out and took her small hand in his big one. “I wish… If anything happens to you like that again, if any guy, Alpha or Beta, ever mistreats you, come and tell me.”

“Why?” she whispered.

He bared his teeth in a savage smile. “I’ll make them wish they’d never been born.”

She stared at him, her heart in her throat. “Will you protect me?”

“Always,” he said, squeezing her fingers so hard they ached.

Rey blinked back tears. This man… this Alpha… how could it be that she had his attention for even a moment in time? Rey didn’t believe in fairy tales. The big bad wolf was real, but there was no huntsman walking around trying to save parentless little girls. The wicked stepmother existed, but there was no prince to rescue Cinderella.

Ben Solo was changing her mind, making her want to believe. To trust again.

“Ben, last night,” she said, stumbling over her words, “would you like to do it again?” She asked the question knowing she would forever regret it if she didn’t. “What I mean is, would you like to spend time with me? We could continue this… this…” She didn’t want to use the word relationship.

“Last night was amazing,” Ben said quietly.

He squeezed her hand before withdrawing his and Rey felt the little bloom of hope in her heart wither and die.

She could hear it in his tone. She was about to be let down ever so expertly by this Alpha who normally bedded supermodels. Time to lean into the pain.

“Rey, come on,” he said, cupping her chin in one hand and forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’m not feeding you a line. I mean it when I said last night was incredible. You’re my first Omega.”

Oh. That surprised her.

“Is it because of Kaydel?”

“What?”

“Are you two dating? I saw a photo of you leaving the club with her.”

Ben grimaced. “I was walking Kaydel to her car, that's all. The paparazzi make her feel under siege and I can understand that.”

Rey was pleased. Ben hadn’t slept with Kaydel. He was being a good Alpha, protecting a beautiful girl.

He dropped his hand and looked at her carefully. “Rey, I don’t have time for Artoo much less a girlfriend. It’s not you. I just can’t right now.”

She nodded, trying to appear understanding. She was unremarkable, a blip in his radar. Someone to shag before heading back to work.

Ben frowned. “Are we okay? Can you accept that? Because if I’ve messed up our work relationship, I can transfer you back to Phasma’s team and you’ll never have to see me again.”

Rey shook her head quickly. She’d be damned if she lost both her career prospects and her self-respect in one night. “It’s fine, Alph—Ben,” she said, flushing as she caught herself using his designation.

Nope, no, never again.

She could feel the hysterical need to cry building inside herself.

_Alpha doesn’t want me._

_Alpha doesn’t love me._

_What’s wrong with me?_

“I guess it’s time I go home,” Rey said, attempting a fractured smile.

She had to leave.

Rey arrived back in Manhattan on a helicopter. It was how Ben travelled between Skywalker Estate and Solo Tower. She hadn’t even realised there was a helipad atop her office building until that day.

Why wouldn’t Ben have his own helicopter? That was a perfectly normal thing to own.

Rey caught her usual train home.

She was grateful to be in her own apartment, her boring, basic one-bedroom place. She didn’t belong in Ben’s world with its chandeliers and marble floors.

It still disturbed Rey that Anakin Skywalker was immortalised on Ben’s driveway. Anakin had been the dark lord for creating legalities to restrict Omega freedoms. If he’d had his way, Rey would never have been able to go to school much less earn a degree, never been allowed to mix openly in society lest she tempt an Alpha and make him lose control. The best life she could have hoped for was to be some Alpha’s pampered pet.

In the clear light of day, her time with Ben felt like a mistake, a collision of hormones and scent glands that had nothing to do with rational choice and was instead the result of animal instinct. Hadn’t he said just before he claimed her that he didn’t want things to go too far? Still, she couldn’t find it in herself to regret all that had taken place.

Rey slipped into her bed as soon as she arrived home. She was full from Threepio’s cooking and still wearing Ben’s clothes. She unravelled the night’s events in her exhausted mind as she slowly drifted away.

If she was going to survive her intimate encounter with Ben, she’d have to step up her time frame of when she expected to leave First Order. She wasn’t naïve. The emotional fall out after being wrapped around an Alpha’s body had the potential to be catastrophic. Especially when that Alpha was Ben Solo.

There was so much she needed to think about. Could she keep working with Ben? More realistically, what were her options when it came to finding a new job? Would she be satisfied returning to Phasma’s team? At least there she avoided Alpha interactions and still drew a decent pay cheque. Or should she risk her place in First Order for something unknown?

Rey yawned, her mind shutting down. First, she needed to recover from her marathon sexcapades with her boss, her future be damned.

_Omega._

Rey sat up in bed, pulse racing.

_Alpha?_

She reached out to him but the presence she felt immediately began to fade.

Rey buried her face in her hands. What was going on with her?

Last night, as she and Ben had sunk deeper and deeper into each other, she could have sworn their minds had become linked. Which should have been impossible.

An Alpha and Omega pair only shared thoughts when mated. Ben would have had to sink his razor sharp canines into the swollen gland on her neck- breaking skin and tasting blood- for that to take place.

She suspected the enhanced connection was another sign of her compatibility with her Alpha boss, evidence of the concept of soul mates. Since he didn’t want her, however, any theorising was a moot point. Ben didn’t even want to make her an ongoing booty call.

 _Therein lies madness,_ Rey told herself. A casual affair with Ben Solo? There would be nothing casual about it, at least not on her end.

Should she tell Ben she’d heard his voice in her head? No, definitely not. It would freak him out, demonstrating just how unbalanced she had become as an Omega. But what if he’d heard her too? She could only imagine how bitterly he was regretting hooking up with her.

Rey got dressed in her most unflattering beige suit ( _I want to see that cunt you’ve been hiding under all your hideous skirts, Omega_ ), making sure her three buns of hair covered a very angry looking gland ( _I’m going to fuck you, Omega. You’ll sleep better_ ) and slipping on her chunky heels ( _Good Omega_ ).

She gripped her house keys so hard the metal teeth scraped skin.

 _Stop it, stop it, stop it_.

 _I can’t do this_.

 _You have to_.

Rey remembered Ben’s offer to send her back to Phasma’s team. She didn’t want to return to the daily grind of that position. Even a week crunching numbers for her boss’s theorised expansion had been like sipping champagne after only drinking from juice boxes.

In truth, Ben had been remarkably kind to her. She remembered his concern upon seeing blood on her thigh, his question over whether she could still work with him after their night together.

What if she asked for his help in finding her a job elsewhere? Was that so inconceivable? He probably couldn’t wait for her to leave his side ( _Your suppressants aren’t worth a damn, Omega_ ).

She arrived at Ben’s office with her usual lack of fanfare. He was already seated at his desk, his suit jacket draped over the back of his chair, his tie loosened from its moorings. He looked… unsettled. As if something had disturbed his equilibrium.

_You did just tell him he’s being sabotaged from within his company._

Rey wished Ben good morning and the reply she received was a grunt. She went to her corner and began work on finalising her report. She checked numbers, highlighting discrepancies and falsified figures to make the deception clearer to Ben. He was a smart man, but she was the mathematician.

It took her most of the day to finish. At close to five, Rey approached Ben’s desk.

His back was bent over his computer, one hand buried in his black hair. She suppressed the urge to walk over and hug his head to her breast.

 _He doesn’t want you, Rey. Get over yourself_.

“I have my completed report,” she said nervously.

Why was she nervous?

It was this male. He would always overwhelm her.

“Leave the pad on my desk,” he responded, not looking up from his work.

Rey was disappointed by his coldness. Hurt, even. This was why she needed to leave. She couldn’t be offended every time her boss was too busy to give her his attention.

“Could I… may I speak with you, Ben?”

He looked up, his amber gaze piercing her soul. “Now?”

She nodded and he waved a hand at the chair across from his desk. She’d never before seen it filled.

Rey perched on the edge of the seat, ankles crossed and hands on her knees. “I have loved the work I’ve done for you,” she said softly, noticing his immediate impatience with her set up. She wiped damp palms on her skirt. “Yesterday you offered to return me to Phasma’s team. That’s not what I want, not at all, but perhaps it would be best if we didn’t work together anymore. Would you… if you don’t mind… could you help me find a comparable position elsewhere?”

“Elsewhere.” Ben spoke the word as if it were a rock sinking to the bottom of a pond.

Rey realised she was wringing her skirt in her hands and forced herself to keep still. “If you don’t mind.”

He said nothing, the set of his jaw like granite.

She was struggling to breathe. “I don’t mean to be offensive. I hope you know how much I’ve appreciated this opportunity. It’s because of the past week with you that I’ve realised I could aspire to more…”

“You want to leave First Order.”

She felt her throat close up. She could only nod.

He sounded… unhappy? She couldn’t tell, his face was so frozen.

“Why?” His pheromones smelled of burnt spices, indicating darker, angrier emotions.

Rey gave Ben an imploring look but he seemed unmoved. “You were right,” she said at last. “I made a mistake thinking I could work with an Alpha.”

He scowled. “Many high level executives are Alphas. You’re asking me to find you a similar position at another company and yet…”

“Ben, I can’t work with you,” she interrupted him.

A vein in his jaw began to pulse and she suppressed the urge to tuck and roll away from this interview.

God, help her. This was awful.

_Alpha is upset. You made Alpha mad._

_Yes. Yes, I did._

“It’s us that’s the issue,” she tried again.

“Us?”

“My Omega status isn’t a problem around other Alphas. My suppressants have always worked. When I’m near you, however… it gets complicated.”

Ben shook his head. “I knew working with an Omega was a mistake. I should have listened to my instincts.”

Rey was stung by this. “Haven’t I done what you wanted?” she asked. “I discovered an issue with the previous projections, exposing a possible traitor.”

“And now that you’ve revealed a hidden nest of snakes, you’re leaving before the responsible party is caught?”

She stared at him. “I can stay if you want.”

“If I want?” he asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Rey shrank in her seat, wishing she could disappear. “I’m happy to remain until the matter is resolved.”

“After which you’ll run away? Abandon ship?” His tone was savage.

“I can’t help how I feel around you,” Rey said, her lips trembling. “I wish to God I didn’t react to you the way I do. My life would be so much simpler if I could just be your employee and not obsess over your scent.”

Ben’s mouth twitched at her admission.

Upset that he’d pushed her to expose herself again, Rey added, “And I know you feel it too.”

His expression hardened and she bit her tongue to stop herself from saying any more.

This was who she was, damnit. Smart and sensitive and so close to being in love with Ben Solo that she couldn’t stand to be around him.

“Fine,” he said, the controlled rage in his tone sending a shiver down her spine. “Starting tomorrow I want you to look deeper into the creation of the false report. Who organised to send the original figures through? Were these figures tampered with? Who worked on the projections at Snoke Group? I don’t expect you to provide me with the name of the person who betrayed me, but get me all the necessary information and then we can end our relationship.”

“Ben, I—”

“Are you done for the day, Omega? Since it’s so hard for you to be around me, I would prefer it if you left.”

_Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry…_

Rey stumbled out of Ben’s office, barely making it to the elevator before her tears slipped the boundaries of her eyelashes.

It was one thing to make the right call, to choose to walk away from a man with whom she had no future, but it was another thing entirely to learn to live without him.


	8. Blood is Thicker than Water

Rey feared she would never recover from Ben Solo. Every other male was smoke and shadows compared to his flesh and blood, all food now tasted of ashes. She’d lost something precious.

She made her way down to the fifth floor where she saw Rose packing up her things at the end of the day. Finn was already gone and Rey was thankful for that small mercy. It was too soon for her to listen to someone tear Ben apart. That wasn’t what she wanted.

“Rey! Hey, girl,” Rose beamed upon seeing her loitering in the elevator hallway.

Rey tried to smile and failed miserably.

Rose’s eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?” she demanded.

She shook her head. “Not here. Can we get a drink?”

“Let’s go,” Rose said, slipping her hand through Rey’s, walking her to the elevator doors.

They ended up at Coruscant, an upmarket Manhattan bar filled with men and women who worked on Wall Street. The atmosphere was quiet on a Monday night. Rey found a booth in the back while Rose ordered a couple of drinks.

Her friend returned with two long stemmed glasses of red wine. “What happened to you?” Rose asked, joining her in the booth. “Or should I be asking the question _who_ happened to you?”

Rey gave her a tight smile. “Ben Solo.”

“Ah. What did he do? Lose his temper over a missing semicolon in your report?”

Rey took a sip of her drink, more to wet her mouth than out of any real desire to drink. She already felt so sluggish. “He had the audacity to say he didn’t want me or any other woman as a girlfriend.”

Rose stared at her for a moment. “Are you serious? Ben Solo, main shareholder and CEO of the billion dollar company where we work said that to you? Under what circumstances?”

“Oh, I asked him if he wanted to hang out,” Rey replied faintly. “Or words to that effect.”

Rose continued to gape at her. At last, taking in her friend’s miserable face, she sighed. “You got it bad, girl.”

Rey nodded. “Yup. I’m a fool in love.”

“Love?” Rose spluttered. “You’re kidding, right?”

Rey was shocked as well by the words she’d spoken. Did she mean it? “I- I think I’m serious.”

“How? I mean, you’ve been in Solo’s orbit for little over a week.”

“Do you believe in love at first sight?”

Rose tucked a lock of shiny dark hair behind her ear. “Do you?”

“No,” Rey laughed, “except a week ago I met my soul mate and everything changed.”

“Wow,” Rose muttered.

“You can say it. I’m an idiot.”

Rose shook her head. “Maybe it isn’t love, have you thought about that? Maybe it’s just infatuation. You’re not like most girls, Rey. This is the first time I’ve seen you really into a guy.”

Rey stared into the blood red depths of her drink. “Can you keep a secret?” she asked. The other girl nodded. “I mean it, Rose. No one can find out what I’m about to tell you.”

“Hey, you didn’t tattle when I got drunk and used Phasma’s Gucci lipstick to leave her a note from a vampire that one time,” Rose reminded her, still with a concerned smile. “I can keep my mouth shut too.”

Rey took a deep breath. “I’m an Omega female.”

To Rey’s surprise Rose merely nodded. “So when you say Mr Solo is your soul mate, you’re talking Alpha Omega pheromonal chemical triggers and other such fun side effects?”

Rey narrowed her gaze. “Rose…”

Rose looked at her guiltily. “What?”

“Why aren’t you shocked?”

Rose drained her wine glass before she spoke again. “Because a couple of months ago Finn came up to me and asked if you’d said anything about being Omega.”

“What the hell?” Rey squeaked.

Rose laughed nervously. “The funny thing is I told him he was crazy, that as far as I knew you were Beta just like us.”

“What happened next?”

“Finn dropped it.”

“Just like that?” Rey demanded.

“Yeah. It never came up again,” Rose said.

Rey’s mind was in a whirl. Clearly Finn had seen something and drawn his own conclusions. Perhaps he’d spotted her bottle of suppressants or noticed her temperature changes during those times when her body should have been in heat.

“Why would Finn care?”

“Because he likes you,” Rose said, her tone turning snippy.

Rey rolled her eyes. This was not a new conversation. “Rose, come on.”

“I’m serious. When Finn and I do lunch by ourselves all he wants to talk about is you- whether we’ve hung out recently, what you’re up to. It’s so annoying.”

Rey frowned. “He might get a bit flirty but he’s never actually hit on me. I can’t see a guy like Finn languishing in silence over a girl, can you? Especially since the three of us hang out all the time. He’s had plenty of opportunity to make a move.”

“I know, I know,” Rose muttered, acknowledging they were going over old ground. “Come to think about it, Finn does a lot of baiting the hook without catching any fish, if you know what I mean.”

Rey giggled at the euphemism. “That can’t be right,” she said, considering their friend. “He always has a girl on his arm. What about what’s-her-name? She had all that gorgeous curly hair… quite the spitfire. I thought Finn had finally met his match.”

“D’you mean Jannah?” Rose asked morosely. “His uncle introduced them.”

“Yes, her,” Rey said. “Weren’t they dating for a while?”

Rose tilted her head in thought. “I don’t actually know,” she said at last. “Whatever went on between them fizzled out pretty quickly.”

The two girls fell silent, Rose swirling the dregs of her wine in the bottom of her glass and Rey still nursing her drink.

“You know the only person I’ve heard him be passionate about?” Rey finally asked, giving Rose a careful look.

Rose’s answering expression was so sour she might have been sucking on a lemon. “Don’t say it.”

“Rose…”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“We were both there.”

“Don’t you dare tell me I’ve been crushing on my friend for a year and he’s turned out to be gay!”

Rey tugged on her loosening buns of hair. “I’ve never heard Finn talk about anyone the way he did Poe.”

“Why wouldn’t he tell us?” Rose exploded, drawing the attention of a couple at a nearby table. “I feel like such a fool!”

Rey shook her head. “Maybe he doesn’t realise his feelings himself?”

“Or he’s hiding them because he hasn’t come out to his family.”

Rey scoffed. “Have you seen photos of his Uncle Lando? I mean, the guy wears capes.”

“Or maybe Finn likes both girls and guys,” Rose continued hopefully.

Rey started to laugh. “Wow, I can’t believe I came out tonight to tell you about my broken heart and we’ve only managed to discuss Finn.”

“Sounds about right,” Rose griped. “Ugh, I need to pack his metaphorical bags and move him out of my head.”

“That’s a great plan,” Rey said with a sad smile. “Can you tell me how?”

The two young women spent another hour commiserating over bad romantic decisions.

Rey would look back on that night as a missed opportunity. She’d been so close to the truth of the matter, and yet so far off.

_Omega._

Rey sat bolt upright in bed, adrenaline pumping.

_Alpha?_

She reached for Ben with her mind, clumsy and instinctive. He was there, like a ghost in her bedroom.

_Alpha._

His presence receded but not before she experienced his frustration. Rey burst into tears.

How long would this last, this connection to a male who had already rejected her? It was like deliberately reopening a wound so new it was still bleeding.

It took her longer than usual to get to work. She wasn’t sure if the connection between her and Ben was sapping her energy, or if she just didn’t want to go in. She recalled the article about soul mates, the one that said separation could cause death in a mated pair.

What about an Alpha Omega couple who had intense, sweaty sex, culminating in a joining of minds that continued to manifest itself? What would that do to an Omega unwanted by her Alpha?

When she arrived at First Order it was to discover an empty office. She wondered if Ben hadn’t come in because of her. The luxury space felt desolate without his magnetic presence.

She logged on to her computer and discovered an e-mail from her boss. He explained she now had company-wide computer access to all files in all departments, which included correspondence from every employee.

Rey sighed. That’s right, she was supposed to put on her Sherlock Holmes deerstalker cap and play investigator.

She quickly realised the information that had been gathered and sent to the Snoke Group for their projections would have come from Poe Dameron’s finance department. From there, she tracked e-mails and gathered dates.

There was the day Ben requested the necessary information, Poe’s response via e-mail to say he’d started gathering data, Poe’s email to one of his senior accounts managers- a Dolphed Mitaka- requesting that very task be accomplished, the information Mitaka had cobbled together and sent to Poe, and the same attachment then forwarded on to Ben. Ben himself sent the request to the Snoke Group for his desired projections. It was a time lapse of about two weeks, with Ben sending Poe a couple of ‘hurry up’ e-mails in the midst of it all.

Every attachment she found checked out. The e-mail Ben sent to the Snoke Group appeared to contain accurate figures.

Rey pushed herself away from her desk. She needed a break. She looked at the time on her phone and realised she’d worked through lunch.

She stood on Ben’s side of the office as she ate her salad. She’d given up on tuna, too self-conscious about leaving behind a fishy smell. Rey looked out over the city, enjoying the breathtaking view Ben had his back to every day.

_Alpha needs you._

She frowned, shaking her head to clear it. Where had that come from?

_Go to Alpha._

“I can’t,” Rey said out loud, her tone sharp even though she was talking to her own reflection in the thick glass wall. “He doesn’t want me. Why won’t you get it?”

She binned the rest of her lunch, returning to her computer.

On the surface of things, it appeared the figures had been tampered with _after_ they were received by the Snoke Group. Except what if that wasn’t the case? Rey decided to cast a wider net.

Two hours later, she found what she was looking for. A deleted e-mail sent a day after Ben’s request to the Snoke Group. The strange thing was it had been forwarded at two in the morning from the CEO’s own e-mail account.

Heart pounding, Rey began to do a back trace. There was her evidence. Whoever had logged into Ben’s account had done so from a computer on the fifth floor.

She couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing. What was going on?

It was pouring with rain, the weather conditions perfectly reflecting what was taking place in her heart.

Soaking wet and shivering with cold, Rey knocked loudly on the door. By the time it opened, her hand was beginning to ache with all the pounding.

“Rey! What are you doing here?”

She looked into the glistening dark eyes of the first friend she’d made in First Order. “Finn, we need to talk.”

He shook his head. “This is a bad time, mate.”

“I don’t care,” Rey said, shouldering her way into his apartment.

“Hey—”

“I should have known,” Rey muttered, gazing at the half naked figure sprawled on the couch.

Poe Dameron gave her a charming smile. “Whatever do you mean, Rey-rey?”

Finn shut the door, his face tense. She noticed he appeared dishevelled, like he’d dressed in haste. Clearly, he and Poe had been in the middle of something.

“Rey, I can explain.”

“Explain what?” she snapped, turning on Finn. His expression was so wretched she fought to get her emotions under control. “Finn, I don’t care about him,” she said waving her hand in Poe’s direction.

“What a relief,” Poe muttered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Rey shot him a glare and saw him tugging on a sweater. She turned her back on Poe. “I doesn’t matter who you’re dating.”

“We’re not dating, Rey-rey,” Poe called out. “This is more of a physical thing, not that you’d understand.”

Rey flushed, turning around again to scowl at Poe. “What is your damage?”

“Come on, man,” Finn said, giving Poe an imploring look.

Rey shook her head, returning to Finn. “I can even understand why you two hid the relationship. A senior manager in a romantic dalliance with a subordinate just looks bad. What I don’t get is why you’d help Dameron torpedo Ben Solo’s future plans for First Order.”

“What?” Finn asked, looking confused.

“You sent an e-mail from your computer with adjusted figures regarding First Order’s quarterly outputs.”

“Rey, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Whatever else Rey had to say vanished. She believed the bewildered expression on Finn’s face. Rey swung around to face Poe.

He was on his feet, his mouth twisted into a cold smile. “You stupid bitch.”

Finn flinched, taking a step back. “Poe, what the hell?”

But Poe’s dark coffee eyes were focused on Rey. “You know, I couldn’t believe it at first when lover boy told me there was an honest to goodness Omega working at First Order. I thought I’d hit the jackpot. Ben’s always made a big deal about avoiding your kind even though he has the money to buy an Omega through the black market. His grandfather’s legacy freaked him out. I think he was afraid he’d lose control around one, just like how Anakin lost it when his Omega wife died.”

“What are you talking about?” Rey demanded.

“I used you, stupid Omega. I set you up. You and Solo both. I knew he was starting to suspect a saboteur. So when he asked me to recommend an actuarial scientist of his own I suggested you.” Poe gave her dripping figure a scathing glance. “I hoped you’d trigger his Alpha rut at the very least. It would have distracted Ben and given me more time to organise my takeover.”

Rey was furious. Was this why she’d appeared on Poe’s radar? As Omega bait?

She looked at Finn. “How did you know?” she demanded. “How did you figure out my designation?”

He hesitated. “I went looking in your desk drawer for painkillers. I’d seen you pop pills and just assumed it was something mild. I knew you weren’t an addict or anything.”

“So you found my suppressants and then sold me out to this asshole?”

“Rey, no!” Poe protested. “I didn’t mean it that way. Poe and I were talking one night and it just came out. I had no idea what he was going to do with the information.”

Finn took a step toward her but Rey drew back. “I want to believe you,” she said sadly. “I really do, Finn, but I’m questioning our entire friendship.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Poe laughed. “You’re the one who’s in over your head. You were supposed to screw with Solo both literally and figuratively and you couldn’t even do that. How sexless are you?”

Rey bit her lip, telling herself there was no point admitting to one night of passion with Ben just to boost her ego. She wanted to protect her memories with him, not expose them to this vile specimen. Besides, Poe was right. She had failed as an Omega. Her Alpha did not want her.

“Ben has more common decency in his pinky than you do in your entire body,” she hissed.

“You’ve really hurt my feelings now,” Poe said, rolling his eyes. “I suppose I should be glad of your friendship with Finn. I didn’t know you were still playing Nancy Drew.”

Rey realised Poe hadn’t seen her previous findings. Ben had kept his word and his mouth shut. There was a rat in First Order, after all.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked Poe. “What’s your end game?”

The good looking Alpha gritted his teeth. “There’s still resentment on the board over Luke handing the reins to Ben. Those of us who were close to Leia understand Ben Solo was never meant to be the true leader of First Order.”

“Yes, he was, you psycho,” Rey snapped. “That’s Leia’s son you’re talking about. Just because he wasn’t in the trenches with you doesn’t mean he’s any less worthy to lead.”

“Blood doesn’t count!” Poe roared, finally losing control. “I’m an Alpha too! It shouldn't matter that Ben’s part Skywalker. That doesn’t mean a damn thing!”

“Poe, calm down,” Finn said, his expression strained.

“Shut up,” Poe snarled. “I thought you understood what this means to me.”

“Didn’t you just say Finn was a casual hook up?” Rey asked, stirring the pot.

“Both of you shut it,” Poe snarled. His face was turning a mottled red. “Who else knows about your discovery, Rey?”

She hesitated. “I’ve sent Mr Solo an e-mail. It’s too late.”

“We’ll see about that,” Poe snapped. “Go sit on the couch.”

“Excuse me?”

Poe picked up a leather satchel from Finn’s dining table, reaching inside and withdrawing a gun. He thumbed the safety and used it to wave Rey over to the couch. “You too, Finn.”

Finn stared at him. “Are you kidding?”

Poe shook his head. “I wish things were different.”

Rey crossed her arms over her chest as Finn joined her on the couch. Neither one spoke as Poe pulled out a laptop and began typing. The gun remained on the table inches away from him. After a while, he looked up with a triumphant smile.

“I’m disappointed in you, Rey-rey,” Poe said mocking. “No email activity on your account in the last several hours. How could you lie to me?”

Rey bit back a groan. Of course, Poe would have the same unlimited access to First Order’s systems as she’d been given by Ben.

“And it looks like Ben ordered you to investigate his people. This has gone further than I thought.”

Rey stiffened in her seat, refusing to allow her fear to show.

Poe stood, gun in hand. “I’m going to have to deal with Ben Solo sooner than I thought. Perhaps that’s for the best. But first, what to do with you two?”


	9. In Cold Blood

“Rey, I’m so sorry.”

Rey refused to look up. She had her head buried in her lap, focused.

A few hours ago, Poe herded Finn and her to his car, checking for cameras and people as he did. Unfortunately, the street was clear. He’d then made them climb into the trunk before locking it.

From there, it felt like he’d driven for hours though Rey couldn’t be sure. Poe had taken their cell phones off them, leaving Finn’s behind in his apartment and destroying Rey’s sim card before pocketing hers.

Just as her legs started to cramp in the stuffy trunk, the car came to a stop.

Poe popped the trunk and it had taken Rey a minute to orient herself. They were definitely no longer in Manhattan. Poe ushered them into a secluded cabin surrounded by a leafy green forest. It worried her that she couldn't see a neighbouring home anywhere nearby. A tourist leaflet lying on a table told Rey they’d arrived at the Poconos.

She nearly devolved into a state of panic at that point. The gun, the kidnapping, his refusal to be caught- it all pointed at how desperate Poe had become.

Trapped in the same predicament, Finn had taken to reassuring Rey that there was no way Poe would hurt them. Rey wasn’t so sure.

Why bring them to an out of the way place unless it was easier to dispose of a body here?

Poe ordered them down a steep wooden staircase which led to a dank, windowless basement filled with pipes and little else. They heard him turn the lock and walk away.

Rey gave their captor a few minutes before trying the door, but it was a thick, old fashioned slab of wood that refused to budge. Next, she’d ordered a dazed looking Finn to help her search the basement. They’d found a couple of rusty looking nails, too short to be used as weapons.

At last, she sat on the dusty cement ground, shivering in her damp clothes. Rey wrapped her arms around her knees and pressed her forehead against them. She could think of nothing more to do except…

_Alpha?_

_Alpha?_

_Alpha._

She reached out to Ben with her mind but felt nothing.

_Alpha?_

_Alpha, please… Please, I need you._

_Alpha._

Rey sought Ben’s thoughts, the impression of his presence that she’d experienced two mornings in a row.

Nothing.

She began to weep, cold and despair overcoming her.

“Rey,” Finn called out to her from his corner of the basement. “Rey, can I sit with you?”

She shook her head. “Leave me alone,” she sobbed.

Was this how she died? Alone and unloved, at the hands of a power hungry mad man?

 _Alpha!_ she screamed into the ether. _Ben! Save me!_

There was a stirring in the air, a movement of some unseen force.

_Rey?_

She heard his voice in her head and heart, deep and steady. Rey clenched her fists and sent him a series of images: Poe with a gun, opening the trunk of his car, the cabin in the woods.

_Omega._

Her heart leapt, her pulse picking up speed. And then he was gone.

And with his fading presence went her flicker of hope.

_Alpha! Alpha!_

But there was no other impression of Ben Solo.

Rey wept anew.

This time, Finn didn’t ask for permission. He sat beside her, pressing his warm, dry body against her side, sharing his heat.

For a while Rey ignored him, but at last she laid her head on his shoulder.

Finn wasn’t the man she wanted with her, but at least she wasn’t alone.

They had eventually fallen asleep when Poe’s voice woke them up.

Rey blinked sleepily up the stairs, seeing Poe’s form framed against the soothing yellow light of the cabin’s living area.

“Isn’t that sweet?” he sneered as Finn’s arm tightened protectively around Rey’s shoulders. “Come on, you two. Time to end this.”

Rey’s stomach twisted. Finn helped her to her feet and they stiffly climbed the stairs. Despite their predicament, she felt a rush of relief as they were enveloped by the warmth of the heated living room.

“Straight through,” Poe snapped, leading them out the dining area with its French doors and onto the decking in the back yard.

There was a nip in the air but the atmosphere was far milder than it had been in the basement. Rey was still suppressing tiny shivers of cold. She realised she might have suffered hypothermia had it not been for Finn.

Though she wasn’t sure what good that did her now.

“Keep going,” Poe said impatiently.

Rey followed Finn onto a grassy verge, the sky turning the pale lavender of twilight. They’d been held against their will for almost a day, she realised in shock. No wonder she felt so weak. She hadn’t had food and water in all that time.

Before them stretched a natural lake, a huge body of water covered in green vegetation.

“Onto the dock,” Poe instructed, pointing at the short wooden structure.

“Poe, what are you doing?” Finn asked as reality set in. “This is you and me we’re talking about.”

Poe’s gun wavered. “I’m sorry,” he said tensely. “For you, not for her.”

Finn shook his head. “Not like this. You’re better than this.”

Rey watched as deep sadness and regret crossed Poe’s face. Perhaps he cared for Finn after all.

“I’ll make sure your family is looked after,” Poe said, his voice choked. “Your mom will lack for nothing.”

Finn kept shaking his head. “Don’t do it,” he protested. “Let us go. I’m sure we can come to some agreement…”

Poe burst out laughing. “You need to pay attention, Finn. Little Omega Rey may not have destabilised Ben like I hoped she would, but she’s still fallen in love with the big, strong Alpha. Haven’t you, my dear?”

Rey felt her lips tremble. “Go to hell, Dameron,” she said.

Raising his gun, he replied, “You first, Rey-rey.”

“Rey!”

The bass roar of a battle cry made Rey’s heart leap. She looked up, eyes wide, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Ben Solo was running, lunging, arms outstretched. He slammed into Poe with so much force the other man went flying, his trigger finger tightening. The gun went off.

Rey felt unimaginable pain explode in her body. At the same time, she was too focused on Ben to wonder what had gone wrong with herself. His lips were drawn back, his teeth bared in savage violence. His fists threw punch after punch at Poe.

_Alpha._

Beside her, Finn cried out, “No! Stop!”

Blood and teeth flew in the evening air. Poe was on the ground, Ben on top of him, both men grappling with the kind of savage intensity normally reserved for animals. At last, the cops arrived, and with them was Ben’s head of security.

Chewie rushed into the fray, pulling Ben off Poe with a series of choice swear words. He held Ben back as two officers cuffed and dragged Poe to his feet. Dimly, Rey watched another cop pick up the discarded gun, lying in the grass.

As a police officer began to read him his rights, Poe lifted his head to look at Ben. Rey expected an expression of guilt or despair, but instead there was pure rage on his face.

“I hate you,” he said, chest heaving from their fight.

Ben stared back at him, Alpha to Alpha. “I know,” he said, his tone like ice. “I’ve always known.”

Finn choked back a cry as Poe was led away. Rey slumped against him, at last looking down on herself.

Blood blossomed across her abdomen like ghastly red flowers. She could feel the gush of life giving force leave her body.

“Rey!”

She heard the hoarse cry and wondered who it was. Not Finn, he was laying her down on the dock with a petrified expression.

“Rey,” that hoarse voice spoke again.

It was Ben, except it didn’t sound like Ben. His face appeared, replacing Finn’s. He was parchment pale, his star chart of tiny beauty marks standing out. Big arms cradled her body, one hand pressed down hard on the bullet wound to stop it pouring blood. She gasped, nearly passing out from the pain.

“Don’t you die on me, Omega,” he whispered. Dimly she heard shouts behind him. “Don’t you fucking die. I will never forgive myself. Do you hear me? You’re not allowed to die.”

“It’s okay,” Rey said, her words slurring, vision fading. She gave him a small smile even though it was almost too much effort. “I didn’t want to die without seeing you again. My love.”

He made a noise like a wounded animal. Strange, wasn’t that what she should sound like?

Instead, she was babbling. “Did you know? That I love you?”

A man and a woman appeared, trying to push Ben away. She felt another jagged bolt of pain and then there was only darkness.

_Omega._

Rey awoke in stages. She heard voices. An argument. Someone was demanding information.

_Alpha?_

The discussion ended abruptly. Warmth. A hand on her cheek.

“Rey…”

Her lashes fluttered open. Her limbs felt heavy, her throat dry. There was a gnawing ache in her left side. Her head throbbed as it lay on a cool white pillow. She was in a big bed and there were tubes connected to her body.

“Alpha…”

Ben was there, bent over her prone form, amber eyes liquid with concern.

No, he wasn’t her Alpha. She’d made a mistake. This was Ben Solo, her boss.

Why was he here?

“Water?” she whispered.

He brought her a plastic cup, tipping it so she could drink more easily. She dribbled a little and felt a pang of embarrassment.

“What… what happened?”

His thumb brushed beads of water from her chin. “Rey, don’t you remember? You were shot.”

Her eyes widened as memories returned. Ben attacking Poe, as savage as any beast. Poe’s gun going off.

“Poe…”

Ben made a sound low in his throat like a growl.

_Alpha is angry._

She looked at him, worried. She didn’t have the energy to placate him.

Ben cupped her face and she leaned into the tenderness of his palm. “You don’t have to worry, sweetheart. Poe is going to jail for a very long time.”

Sweetheart?

A nurse bustled in, a frown on her face. “Mr Solo, we really need to let her rest.”

Ben removed his hand and Rey grew upset.

Except the nurse was right, already her eyes were sliding shut.

He’d called her sweetheart.

_Omega._

Rey stirred under crisp white sheets.

_Alpha?_

She turned her head to see Ben seated on a grey armchair, his legs sprawled out before him. He’d been dozing, she was sure of it. He blinked bleary eyes at her.

“Ben…” she whispered.

He jumped up quickly, this time reaching for a plastic cup with a straw. Rey was grateful for the drink of water.

She slowly moved her arms and then her legs. She shifted in bed and felt a twinge. Rey patted her left side and gently stroked the smooth dressing. She looked curiously at a neatly taped square of gauze.

“How bad was it?” she asked, her voice thready.

“Not bad for a gunshot wound to the stomach,” he said with a pained smile. “You required surgery to remove the bullet and a blood transfusion to replenish what you’d lost, but there was no damage to your spine or other vital organs. I think they used the word miracle.”

Rey couldn’t quite comprehend the information she’d been given. She kept touching her dressing. “Am I all stitched up under there?”

“Actually, no,” Ben said with a frown. “The doctors want the swelling to go down before they consider sewing or stapling the wound.”

She smiled tiredly. “You seem to know exactly what’s going on.”

He gave an awkward shrug. “Yeah, well, you did just nearly die doing your job.”

Rey laughed, the sound quickly turning into a cough. She groaned as she felt her wound pull.

Ben stepped forward, his face concerned. “Should I call the doctor?”

“That hurt,” she muttered. “No need. I’m just gonna… go back to sleep.” She closed her eyes, exhausted.

A second passed and she forced her eyes open again. “Ben?”

“Hmm?” He was still standing there, watching her.

“Why are you here?” Finally, she asked the question that had been bugging her.

“What do you mean?” he responded.

Rey suspected sheer tiredness was making her delirious because she pouted. She, Rey Jackson, pouted like a sulky little girl at the CEO of First Order International.

“You know what I mean,” she said crankily. “You don’t have to stick around just because you feel guilty about what happened to me.”

He was silent for so long she forced open eyes that had drifted shut again.

“Who’s Kylo, Rey?”

“What?” she said, mouth hanging open.

“Your emergency contact was a man named Kylo Ren. We haven’t been able to reach him.”

Rey turned her head, burying her face in a pillow. She groaned, her voice muffled by cotton.

Ben looked at her in surprise. “What is it?”

“He doesn’t exist.”

Ben raised his eyebrows.

“Kylo Ren was my imaginary childhood best friend. I put down his name and a fake number as my emergency contact so people wouldn’t realise I’m alone.” She saw the look on Ben’s face and cringed. “Please don’t pity me. I’m fine.”

He said nothing for a moment. “Did you want me to arrange for your friend to come see you? Finn Jones?”

Rey shook her head. “Not him. Not yet, anyway.”

Ben nodded. “He cooperated fully with the police, so you know. Finn confessed to having an affair with Poe before he filled them in on the details of the kidnapping. I believe him when he says he didn’t know what was going on.”

Rey sighed. “I do too. I just need time. Could I have Rose Tico visit?”

Ben reached out a hand to stroke her hair. “Sure, sweetheart.”

Rey’s heart thumped against her ribcage.

There it was again. He called her sweetheart.

What was that about?

But she was already too far gone to formulate another question, sleep reclaiming her mind.

_Omega._

_Alpha._

Rey opened her eyes to look into Ben’s face.

“Look who’s here,” he said with a gentle smile.

“Hi,” Rose said nervously, a bunch of gardenias in her hand. She looked like she wanted to come right up to the bed but Ben was hovering over Rey at the moment.

Rey held out her hand to Rose who finally stepped forward and took it. “How are you feeling?” she asked, shooting Ben a nervous look.

“Better,” Rey replied. She looked up at Ben with guileless hazel eyes. “Do you think I could eat?”

“I’ll go find you something,” he said immediately.

Rey let out a giggle once he’d gone. “I don’t think he’s left my side,” she told Rose. “It’s like I have a guard dog.”

Her friend shook her head, bemused. “Well, he’s certainly looking after you.”

“What do you mean?” Rey asked.

Rose stared at her. “I guess when you’ve been shot you stop noticing things,” she said, waving a hand around her. “Rey, you’re in a private hospital and you have your own room. That’s a huge bed you’re sleeping in with sheets that have a higher thread count than my own.”

“I didn’t notice,” Rey said, startled. “Who’s paying for all this?”

“Your attack dog,” Rose told her, keeping an eye out for Ben.

“I said guard dog,” Rey snapped.

“Whatever,” Rose replied. “Who cares what title you give him as long as he keeps taking care of you?”

_Alpha will feed you._

_I don’t care_.

_Alpha will protect you._

_I only want him to love me_.

For the first time, without her really trying, her Omega instincts quietened.

Agreement. What a shock.

A memory from the shooting came back to her and Rey felt her expression change.

Oh, no.

“Rey, are you okay?” Rose asked anxiously.

She shook her head, not wanting to confess the details of the incident. “My memory is a little hazy. It’s returning in dribs and drabs.”

Rose reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, hon. That was an awful thing to happen to you. To anyone, really.”

“I’m sorry too,” Rey said. “The news about Finn can’t have been easy to hear.”

Rose shrugged. “I was prepared thanks to our conversation the other night. Do you realise we nearly figured out what was going on?”

Rey pursed her lips, considering this. “Have you seen Finn?”

“He’s on administrative leave. I’m not sure he’ll ever come back.”

“If it helps, he was devastated when Poe revealed his true colours,” Rey said, adding softly, “I think he was in love with him.”

A knock on her room door made both young women jump.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Ben said. “How do you take your steak, Rey?”

“Um, medium?” Rey answered. “Wait, I’m getting a steak?”

Ben didn’t answer, instead turning to her friend. “Are you staying for lunch, Rose?”

“No, I need to get back to work,” the other girl said with a brilliant blush.

Ben grinned. “I’ll take care of your manager. Gwen Phasma, right?”

“Oh. Wow. Okay,” Rose said delightedly. “I’ll have my steak well done.”

Ben disappeared again and both girls stared at each another.

“What was that?” Rose asked. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was smitten.”

Rey bit her lip. “Impossible. If anything, he’s feeling guilty for putting me in harm’s way.”

Rose considered this. “Does he think you’ll sue First Order for injuries?”

“I hope not,” Rey replied, taken aback. The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. “I should probably have a serious conversation with Ben before this goes on for too long.”

Rose shrugged, giving her an impish smile. “Oh, I don’t know. I’d enjoy my time being waited on hand and foot.”

Rey laughed. “At least until I’ve had my lunch.”


	10. Blood and Guts

“This isn’t my home!”

Rey scowled at her boss, arms crossed over her chest.

Ben sighed, running a hand through his thick mop of black hair. He mumbled something that sounded like, “It could be.”

She continued to glare at him and at last he spoke loud enough to be heard. “There’s no way I was going to let you go home to recover on your own.”

“Rose promised to help me.”

“Rose can’t be there all the time. She has a job to get to and a life of her own.”

Rey worried her lower lip, hating that he was right. “I’m not helpless,” she protested.

“And it’s that attitude that’ll land you back in hospital,” he snapped. “Look, having you stay with me is cheaper than hiring a full time nurse. Threepio lives to serve- he’s practically hopping with joy designing menus to feed us.”

Damnit, he’d said us. And feed. Rey felt her heart melt.

Also, Ben knew she hated the idea she was costing him money. She couldn’t begin to imagine how much her hospital bills had set him back. She’d tried to find out to no avail.

He held out his hand and she clutched it after a brief hesitation. Rey winced as she slid out the back seat of Ben’s town car, taking tentative steps on the gravel driveway.

She was allowed to go for slow walks every day to build up her strength. The doctors were pleased with her progress, eventually closing the bullet wound with a few dissolvable stitches.

She heard Chewie whistling to himself as he exited the driver’s seat. The shaggy behemoth of a man hadn’t left Ben’s side since the incident. He popped his head inside her hospital room to greet her every time Ben visited- which was all the time.

Something was going on that Rey couldn’t quite figure out. All she could do was try to protect her vulnerable heart; a thankless task considering she’d already fallen in love with her boss. But that didn’t mean she should let him walk all over her.

At some point when she was better she would have to go home. Rey already dreaded separating from her Alpha.

Her alpha. She wasn’t even trying to deny it any longer.

She reminded herself it didn’t matter how she felt for him. Ben didn’t want her.

And yet his behaviour over the last week had been strange. He was acting more like a jealous boyfriend than a concerned employer. For instance, her lanky surgeon had visited her room so often Ben became suspicious. After a few pointed questions, it eventually came out that Dr Hux was fascinated by his first Omega patient. Rey was certain Ben had words with the poor man’s chief of surgery since she never saw him again.

They reached shallow stone steps and Ben took her breath away by picking her up. He carried her like a bride over the threshold before gently putting her down again.

Rey saw Threepio lurking in the shadows. To her surprise, the old man was wiping away tears with a large polka dot handkerchief.

Ben spotted Threepio as well and hastily ushered Rey toward the kitchen before she could ask any questions. They used a narrow service elevator to take them all the way to the fifth floor.

At last, she arrived at her bedroom and its beauty made her freeze in the doorway.

The huge space was designed to appear immaculately white. A large four poster bed dominated the room with snow white sheets and a white satin comforter in a plush quilted pattern, covered in mounds of marshmallow soft pillows and cushions. The bedhead was composed of folds of white silk pinned to an antique style headboard.

There was a mirrored vanity table and matching stool, a fainting couch and an armchair made of elaborately carved wood painted gloss white, upholstered in white brocade. The walls and ceiling were icy white, a crystal chandelier hanging over the bed. Floor to ceiling windows opened onto a balcony overlooking the grounds. The fifth floor view revealed acres of well tended land.

“Ben, this is too much,” Rey said, stunned. “This can’t be a guest bedroom. What if I bleed on a cushion?”

He gently nudged her through the door. “I wanted to be close to you, and this is the only one of two linked bedrooms.” He opened a pale grey door and she caught a glimpse of a smaller but equally luxurious chamber, this time decorated in shades of dark grey and silver. “I’ll sleep there in case you need me in the night.”

She sat down carefully on the edge of the white bed, not wanting to admit she was already growing tired. “Why are these two rooms connected?”

He hesitated. “Do you remember me telling you my mother was Alpha and my father…”

“Beta. Yes.” Rey had been running her hands through a soft as mink white throw but stopped to focus on Ben.

“Whenever my mother went into rut, it was safer for dad to lock himself away. I think they tried weathering the storm together a couple of times, but things became too violent.” Ben cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “Man, it’s awkward acknowledging your parents had sex.”

Rey laughed, touched by what he’d shared. “I wouldn’t know.”

He gave her a concerned look, as if wondering if he’d offended her.

“It’s fine, Ben. I’m all grown up,” Rey reassured him. “Besides, we’re both orphans.”

He looked at her in some surprise. “I guess we are.”

Rey blinked owlishly as his explanation sank in. “Wait a minute. Are you saying this is Leia’s bedroom? Ben, I definitely can’t stay here.”

“Why not?” he asked, grasping her legs and swinging them onto the bed, his strong arms effortlessly stretching her body out on the quilt.

She shook her head lying down. “I’m a nobody from nowhere. I couldn’t possibly take your parents' old room. Why don’t you sleep here and I’ll have the spare bed?”

Ben stroked her hair and Rey tried not to squirm like a puppy. “Do as you’re told, Omega. Besides, Leia would love the idea of you in here. You’re the Omega female who helped save First Order from Poe and his dark side.”

Rey was unable to suppress a shiver of pleasure as Ben pulled off her shoes and socks, followed by her shorts and t-shirt. She should have been offended that he was stripping her down to her underwear, but she’d worn her one good set of green lace bikini panties and bralette for that very reason. She watched his jaw harden as his fingers traced sheer silk covering small, firm breasts.

 _Good_ , she thought in satisfaction. _Let him see what he’s missing._

Something else occurred to her. “I don’t have clothes.” She’d been surviving on hospital gowns and a handful of items Rose had brought her.

“I asked Rose to stop by your place and pack a bag. Threepio’s already filled the wardrobe with your things.”

Her eyes opened wide. “Rose did _what?_ Traitor.”

Ben gave her an amused smile.

“I know what you’re doing,” Rey grumbled. “Stop seducing my only friend so she’ll take your side.”

“I’ve no idea what you mean,” Ben said, covering her body with the soft throw. He pressed a kiss to her cheek, his hands lingering on her hips. “Rest,” he told her.

“Yes, Alpha,” she sighed before she could stop the words from slipping out.

Rey was too tired to reprimand herself.

_Alpha!_

Her cry was a psychic scream.

There was a man with a gun and she couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.

She felt powerless. Suffocated.

Her killer was drawing closer, his face twisted with rage.

Rey felt her heartbeat accelerate, certain she was going to die.

_Omega!_

Rey came awake. Ben was by her bedside, gently shaking her shoulders. She sat up and threw her arms around his neck, sobbing against his bare chest. Her wound tugged but she didn’t care. She needed to feel his solid warmth.

Ben held her close until her tears had run their course.

“What was it, sweetheart?” he asked at last, his nose buried in her hair. “A nightmare?”

“Don’t,” she muttered, pulling back from his embrace.

Of course, he looked delicious. Dressed only in black sweatpants, his broad chest gleamed in the moonlight, his feet bare. His dark hair was a floppy mess.

Ben looked at her, puzzled. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t call me sweetheart,” she said miserably. “You don’t mean it. Not really.”

His mouth hardened. “If that’s what you want.”

“And don’t you dare look at me like that- like _I_ hurt _you_. You’re the one who didn’t want me.”

“Rey, I never said…”

“You’re too busy for me, Ben,” she snapped, pain pouring out like water from a broken dam. “Don’t you remember the words? Because I do. You’re too busy for me and too busy for Artoo. I mean as much to you as a dog.”

He looked at her with so much emotion on his handsome face that she wanted to hide behind her blankets.

“I will never be able to take back what I said to you that morning,” he told her, his voice a low rumble. “All I can do is try to explain and tell you how sorry I am.”

Ben placed a hand on hers and she pushed it away. “Don’t touch me,” she said, seeing him flinch. “I can’t think when you touch me, and I need a clear head if I’m ever going to walk away with my heart intact.”

He placed his hands on his lap, his eyes tracing her delicate face, sliding lower to her slim shoulders, the delicate lace straps of her bralette like jewellery against her tan skin. His gaze was hot and it confused her. She tugged the white throw to cover her body.

“I know you don’t think I’m pretty,” she said, fighting to keep a wobble from her voice. “You’re used to supermodels like Kaydel.”

“Kaydel can go to hell,” he barked, startling her. “Rey, why do you keep bringing her up? She doesn’t interest me. And you… you’re right when you say I don’t think you’re pretty. It's because you’re gorgeous.”

Rey shook her head, denying his words. “What you’re feeling is pheromones. It’s not real or you wouldn’t have pushed me away.” She blinked hard, trying to keep back the tears. “What’s really going on, Ben? Why am I here in your mother’s bedroom? You don’t have to look after me this way.”

“What way is that?” he asked, his tone abrupt.

“Like I’m precious. Like I mean something to you.”

He glowered. “And what if you are precious? What if I’ve been regretting letting you walk away from me ever since we met? What if I saw you in danger at the lakeside and nearly lost my mind because of it? What if I wanted to die just because you were dying?”

Rey could feel her eyes grow big in her head. It was too much. Everything. All of it. Working by this Alpha’s side. Drinking in his pheromones daily. Their night together. Her confrontation with Finn and Poe. The kidnapping at gunpoint. Thinking she would die before she could admit her feelings to the one man she loved. And then the rescue. Ben saving her, savage and glorious. Ben by her side at the hospital. Ben insisting he look after her.

Rey burst into tears. She covered her face with her hands.

He reached out with his massive arms, wrapping them around her shaking shoulders, gently pulling her onto his lap. He bent his head, tucking it into the crook of her neck, finding her humming Omega gland and licking, slow and steady.

Rey hiccupped as her nerve endings awakened, like a flower opening to the sun. She turned her face and found Ben’s lips. They kissed, soft and gentle. When her tears had quietened, he pulled back a little.

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he said, low and earnest. “I pushed you away because of my past, Rey. I made up my mind long ago that I didn’t want to be with an Omega. My father was Beta and my mother Alpha and while they loved each other, their designations created tension in their marriage. And then I come along, another Alpha in the mix, and things imploded.”

“Ben, you were just a kid,” she said, lifting her head from his bulky shoulders. “It wasn’t your fault.”

His face was taut. “Maybe not at first, but I continued to make stupid choices. Drugs, alcohol… girls. It took me a long time to find my equilibrium. When I realised it was the loss of his Omega wife that sent my grandfather spiralling into a dark path, I vowed I would never allow that to happen to me.”

“Poe said…”

“Don’t talk to me about him,” Ben snarled.

“Listen,” Rey begged, and he quietened. “Poe said you stay away from Omegas because of Anakin.”

Ben frowned. “I can’t believe he noticed my hang up.”

“So it’s true?” Rey whispered.

He nodded once.

“I can accept it if you don’t want to be with me because you don’t like me that way, but to keep me at arm’s length just because your grandad was an idiot…”

Ben groaned. “I was being a coward,” he said. “Will you forgive me?”

She gripped him tight. “I don’t know if I trust you, Ben.”

He kissed her again. “Rey, I’m asking for another chance to be the man you deserve. I’ll look after you, I promise. Keep you safe. Kiss your pink lips. Lick every golden freckle on your honey skin. Fuck your wet little cunt until you lose your mind with orgasms.”

“Right now?” she asked hopefully.

He chuckled. “When you’re better… sweetheart.”

And she allowed the endearment. Perhaps he did mean it after all.

Rey snuffled, trying to find a more comfortable position on Ben’s lap. His eyes darkened, hands tightening around her waist, holding her still. She felt his sex pulse beneath her bottom, thick and hard, and she blushed.

"Stop squirming," he muttered.

“Sorry,” she replied.

“You will be,” he growled, making her heart twist inside her chest.

She was disappointed when he gently lifted her back onto the bed, this time pulling the covers over her.

“Where are you going?” she asked, wishing he would stay.

“To have a cold shower,” he said grumpily. “Or maybe a warm one so I can use my soapy hand.”

“Ben!”

“What?”

She peeled off her bralette, exposing taut breast. “Could I help?”

He surged forward, his plush lips locking around a tight pink nipple and sucking hard, one hand massaging the soft mound of her other breast. Rey whimpered, slick gushing from the junction of her thighs as Ben pinned her to the bed. Her wound tugged if she moved too much so she let him have his way.

“I wish they were bigger,” she sighed as he moved on to her neighbouring nipple.

“Perfect,” he mumbled around the loud sucking noises he was making. “They’re perfect.”

She laughed and blushed as one, amazed by how undone he was making her. She felt close to a climax even though he hadn’t touched her between the legs. He played with her tits for an inordinate amount of time.

“Can I come on your breasts?” he asked at last, breathing harshly.

Rey shook her head. “No.”

He stared at her as she tugged him closer. Ben straddled her chest and she reached inside his sweats with one hand. His cock throbbed hard in her little fist.

“Rey, I’m not gonna last if you…”

“Closer,” she said, her voice high and needy.

“Sweetheart, what…?”

“Get closer, Alpha, please,” she begged.

He shuffled forward and she opened her mouth, sucking his bulging wet head between her lips. Ben growled, gripping the headboard so hard she heard an ominous creak. Rey used her tongue to tease his swollen cock, one hand stroking several thick inches she couldn’t fit in her mouth, her other hand massaging his testicles.

“Omega, I can’t…” His words choked in his throat and he let out a roar, coming so hard he popped a knot. Her little hands milked his shaft, her throat gulping him down as fast as she could. He filled her belly with his gush of hot seed, and she happily accepted his offering.

Once he was drained dry, Ben collapsed beside her, chest heaving, his face blissed out. At last he opened his eyes, his cock twitching when she licked her lips clean, her mouth still glistening with pearlescent come.

“You’re so beautiful,” he husked. “My little Omega.”

“I’ve never done that before,” she admitted shyly.

He groaned. “You’re amazing.”

She nestled in her pillow. “You taste like sweet almonds, Alpha. If you’re worried about my wound, we can do that for as long as it takes me to heal,” she promised.

He looked at her, half awed and half delighted. “I’ll draw up a schedule,” he said fervently.

Rey’s answering laugh was decidedly sleepy.

Ben slipped under the covers, joining her in the large white bed. The next morning, he had Threepio move in his things.

“How did you find me?”

They were stretched out on a day bed beside the pool when she spoke. Rey wore a tiny white string bikini Ben had purchased for her online along with a small mountain of lingerie for him to remove from her body every night.

He was in blue and white board shorts, working from home on his laptop. He flew into the office for the occasional meeting but he’d otherwise stayed by her side.

Ben had explained to Rey the initial media frenzy around Poe’s actions. It was reported that Poe Dameron, First Order’s chief financial officer, had experienced a psychotic break and endangered the lives of two employees. Thanks to damage control by his media team, no one had discovered the true depths of Poe’s duplicity.

Rey was happy to put that ugliness behind her, enjoying her recovery at the Skywalker Estate. Threepio was an overindulgent cook, Artoo had taken to snuggling by her side during her naps on whatever couch was closest to where Ben was working, Chewbacca’s constant security reports assured her that she was safe and Ben… well, Ben was everything. Her sun and moon and stars. Her reason for getting up every morning.

Her Alpha was currently giving her a blank stare.

“The day I was taken,” she clarified. “How did you know where I would be?”

Ben gave her a rueful smile. “I wondered when we’d have this conversation.”

She looked at him in confusion. “Why? What’s the big deal?”

He promptly distracted her by picking up a tube of sunblock and smearing another layer over already glistening biceps. “Haven’t you realised by now?”

She shook her head, leaning toward him as far as her healing stomach would allow, stroking his pectoral muscles. She loved touching him and did so whenever she could.

“You were in my mind, Omega,” he told her, looking both disappointed and relieved when she stopped caressing him. “We bonded.”

“I knew it!” Rey declared, wincing as she sat up too quickly. “But how is that possible?”

Ben shrugged. “I spoke to a doctor who said a few Alpha Omega pairings are so intensely connected their psychic bond can transcend the mating bite. It’s a rare and unique thing. Some call us soul mates, others refer to it is as a dyad.” He paused. “It was that way with Anakin and Padme.”

Rey took his hand. “We are not your grandparents, Ben.”

“I know,” he agreed. “And even if we are like them in some ways, I don’t care. Our future is still our own to decide.”

Rey felt a sweet ache at his words. She could never have imagined a future with this Alpha.

“Ben?”

“Hmm?” His hands were already flipping open his laptop.

“I need you.”

He looked at her, pupils expanding, amber into black.

Now that she’d had a taste of him, Rey was insatiable. She wanted Ben all the time. He was being more careful, not wanting to tax her as she recovered, but she was greedy for him.

She sat up and beckoned, making him come around to her side of the lounge. She pulled down his shorts and grasped his steel erection, swallowing as much of him as she could. Wrapping his fingers in her chestnut red hair, he lovingly fucked her pink mouth.

Rey had trained herself to swallow more of Ben every time, her soft lips bumping against his hard red knot as he deep-throated her. He came three times before he was sated, his knees shaky and fingers trembling. Rey was full and dreamy, already planning their next encounter.

Ben kissed her as she dozed by the pool, returning to lie by her side.

“Poor Poe,” she mumbled.

He looked at her, still tense every time his former friend’s name was mentioned. “I’m not sure the man who tried to kill you deserves your pity, Omega,” he rumbled.

Rey shook her head. “He was his own undoing. He sent me to you so we could bond. He wanted my Omega blood to distract your Alpha senses. He thought his plan had failed, but it hadn’t. It had succeeded rather spectacularly. Don’t you see? Poe was found out because of our connection.”

Ben gave her a fond smile. “I get it, sweetheart.”

She rolled her eyes. “Forgive me for getting excited about our bond.”

“If I get any more excited about us, Omega, I’ll need an intravenous line to rehydrate.”

Rey blushed prettily. “Fair enough, Alpha.”

“I remember what I said to you after I was shot.”

They were in the cinema room having just finished a melodramatic space opera about star crossed lovers.

Six weeks had gone by and Rey was almost back to a hundred per cent.

Ben boxed up her things from her old apartment and had them sent to the Skywalker Estate for her to go through. She had a feeling she would be getting rid of many items from her past.

He’d also paid her landlord the requisite fee for breaking her lease. Without telling her.

Some things about Ben Solo were unavoidably Alpha.

He arched a brow, turning off the big screen.

“I told you I loved you,” she said, her cheeks burning.

“And?” he asked. “Have you changed your mind?”

She sat in a plush armchair, worrying her lower lip. “We’re living together, Ben.”

“I noticed,” he replied.

“Everything’s just kinda happened. You never asked what I wanted.”

“What do you want, Omega?”

Rey felt a shiver travel down her spine. She saw no reason to be coy. “I want you, Alpha. Every day, all the time.”

Ben looked at her dressed in a white cotton camisole so sheer her little pink areolas and nipples were on display, her denim cut-offs revealing the curve of her pert ass.

“You need to be taught a lesson, Omega,” he said, his voice pitched so low it pinned her to her seat.

Rey refused to look down, knowing her shorts were saturated, embarrassed by her need for this man.

“Alpha?” she whispered, sensing his darkening emotions.

“You dare question how I feel about you?”

Her lips quivered. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Alpha.”

“I think that’s exactly what you wanted, Omega.”

He stood, towering over her. Ben peeled off his clothes, revealing his hard muscled body, his erection thick and swollen.

“I’ll show you what you mean to me,” he growled, big hands spanning her waist, lifting her off the seat and placing her on her hands and knees.

Rey whimpered as Ben tore the clothes from her body, ripping them into pieces with a casual twist of his fingers. He draped his broad chest over her slender back, his hands sliding around to cup taut breasts. He fitted the bulging head of his cock to her slit, thrusting hard and sheathing his thick shaft inside her. He began pumping his cock in and out of her tight little tunnel, animal grunts escaping his lush mouth, her moans a sweet accompaniment.

She climaxed in seconds, chanting, “Alpha, Alpha, Alpha, Alpha, _Alpha_ …”

He built up speed, a callused thumb and finger snaking downward to pinch her swollen clit. She squealed, coming again, and he pushed his hard knot deep inside her velvet passage. She twisted and shuddered beneath him as he came, his mouth clamping down on her blood engorged gland, sucking a bruise into the tender flesh. Every quiver he drew from her made him come. He emptied his seed inside her womb over and over.

“Do you see, Omega?” he asked at last, low and husky in her ear.

She sobbed quietly.

“Do you see how I feel about you? How much I want you? How much I care?”

“Alpha…” she mewled, her small hands gripping his forearms.

He ground his hips, his knot huge inside her core, massaging her stiff clit. She cried out, her knees turning to jelly, her breath a desperate pant.

“I’m going to fuck you and knot you all night, little Omega,” he murmured. “Do you know why?”

She shook her head, incapable of words.

“You’re in my blood, spreading through my veins like a fragile scarlet tree.”

Rey felt her heart give way. “I love you, Alpha,” she cried out as he clamped his thighs over her hips.

Ben kissed her gland, licking it once. “I love you too, Omega. Now be a good girl and behave.”

And at long last, Rey knew she was home.


	11. Epilogue- Blood Oath

“You look beautiful.” Rose smiled at her best friend, her expression admiring.

Rey wore Ben’s grandmother’s wedding gown, a floor-length dress made of antique ivory silk with a delicate, transparent tulle overlay covered in ivory pearls and panels of swirling lace. The fitted sleeves sheathed her arms all the way to the knuckle, where a ten-carat ruby engagement ring shone. The gown had been tailored to fit her slender form, highlighting slight breasts and hips.

Her chestnut red hair fell in elaborate curls, her veil hanging almost to her waist, lace dotted thickly with more pearls and ivory silk flowers. Her makeup was simple; glowing skin and peach lips. Her eyes shone, more green than brown today, sparkling with emotion.

“I still can’t believe you’re marrying Ben Solo,” Rose murmured, smoothing a hand over her lavender taffeta bridesmaid’s dress.

Rey laughed. “Neither can I.” She gave her friend an impish smile. “Wanna hear a secret?”

Rose nodded as she walked over to fix Rey’s veil. “Of course.”

“We’ve already signed the marriage papers.”

“What?”

Rey laughed as her friend’s mouth fell open. “Typical Alpha Ben,” she smiled. “He didn’t want anything to go wrong, so he made sure by sealing the deal. We stood before a judge two weeks ago.”

“You’re already a Solo?” Rose said, amazed.

“Skywalker-Solo,” Rey corrected her. “Ben rarely uses both last names even though that’s what he was given.”

“So this is just a party?” Rose frowned.

Rey shook her head. “Don’t let Ben hear you say that. It’s still our wedding day and he’s being surprisingly traditional.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Rey blushed. “He hasn’t claimed me yet.”

Rose raised a knowing eyebrow. “The gland biting thing?” she queried.

“Yes, once he… you know… it means we’re mated for life. He wants to do it tonight on our honeymoon.”

Rose smirked. “That’s so hot. I need to find a guy willing to bond with me forever.”

“I thought you and Finn…”

“…are just friends,” Rose finished loudly. “I know I brought him as my plus one, but it’s a miracle we’re in such a good place. I’m not looking for anything more than Finn’s friendship.”

“Sure,” Rey said sceptically, running a finger under her neckline.

Rose plucked a tissue from a conveniently available box and blotted her forehead before turning up the air conditioning in the hotel room. “Are you feeling okay, Rey?” she asked in concern. “I think you’re running a fever.”

Rey sighed. “I am,” she admitted, “but it’s legitimate. I’ve come off my suppressants.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “That’s new, isn’t it? You’ve never been in heat before.”

“I’m glad the wedding’s today,” Rey muttered, fanning herself with a linen napkin that had come with their breakfast tray. “I don’t think I could have lasted much longer.”

Rey stopped speaking when she heard a loud commotion of voices coming from outside. What concerned her the most was the repeated yelling of one particular word: _“Ben.”_

She threw open her room door, ignoring Rose’s protests about a bride not being seen by the groom on her wedding day, and found a hotel in turmoil. The carpeted corridor resembled a war zone.

Finn was bent over at the waist, clutching his stomach as he attempted to regain his breath. The bellboy who had carried her cases when she first arrived was now nursing a bloody nose. The hotel manager who’d appeared to personally usher Mr Solo and his bride-to-be through the front doors was protesting volubly, his immaculate tie askew, his shirt untucked and his toupee flapping with every movement. Threepio was doing an anxious jig, his bleating cries adding to the manager’s complaints, and at their feet Artoo ran circles, barking as loudly as he could, his tail wagging a mile a minute.

The centrepiece of this display was Ben, mouth-wateringly good looking in a black tux, his thick black hair a mess, his eyes bloodshot in a way she’d never before seen, his plush lips drawn back in a bestial snarl. He spotted her, and the only reason he wasn’t immediately on top of her was because of Chewie and Luke, the two men grappling with the younger man, holding him back by the skin of their teeth.

“What’s going on?” Rey demanded, her clear voice stopping some of the babbling.

Luke gave her a pained look. “You tell me,” he snapped, ducking to avoid a glancing blow from Ben’s fist. “Why is it my nephew has gone into rut?”

Rose appeared, rushing to Finn’s side to check on him. “I guess you shouldn’t have gone off your suppressants,” she said thoughtlessly.

“You did _what?_ ” Luke growled.

Rey felt her cheeks burn bright red. Oh, no.

Ben made a sound that could only be described as a snarl, stomping hard on Luke’s foot. The old man yelled, letting go of his nephew’s arm.

“That’s it!” he snapped. “You two idiots brought this on yourselves. The wedding’s off! Rey, I suggest you get inside that room and take off your dress unless you’d prefer it torn from your body in pieces. You’ve got two minutes and then Chewie here’s gonna release your beloved.”

Rey blinked at Luke but his expression said he wasn’t kidding. With a squeak, she ran back into her room, slipping off the fragile lace overlay, trembling hands unhooking pearl buttons, sliding the dress from her body. She threw the mass of fabric into a cupboard and locked it, hoping it would remain unharmed.

Her temperature was now spiking, her muscles like rubber, the junction of her thighs as wet as an ocean. Ben burst in not long after. He took one look at her in a sheer white lace bodysuit and promptly lost his mind.

Pinning her to the floor, he pushed aside the damp crotch of her lingerie and sank balls-deep into her wet cunt, snuffling against her gland as he steadily worked his knot inside her. He came like a geyser and she cried out in bliss. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she climaxed as well, full of her Alpha.

Once his knot receded, Ben pulled out of her, making Rey moan in protest. He peeled her off the floor and dropped her on the bed, his hands making short work of the delicate lace that covered her body. He then ripped off his own clothes, already ready to go.

Rey opened her arms to him, desperate for Ben’s touch. He gathered her in his embrace as he thrust back inside her slick cunt, pumping and working his swollen cock within her snug tunnel.

“Alpha,” she moaned, uncaring that their wedding day was ruined. Because how could this moment be anything but wondrous?

Ben was too far gone to speak. He let his Alpha blood do the talking. He worked his hips in a frenzy, and with one almighty howl slid his throbbing knot inside her. At the same time, his sharp teeth found her gland.

He bit down.

Rey’s mind turned white hot as she was mated. She clung shuddering to Ben, her blood in his mouth, their minds entwined as tightly as their bodies.

Forever wasn’t long enough for their love.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone is staying safe in this strange new world. Here's a fic to help you through your isolation or quarantine. I started this story months ago, but it's only now with all this extra time on my hands that I've finished it. Silver linings. Thank you for all the kinds comments on my other fics- you guys are the best.  
> My title comes from a quote from writer Osbert Sitwell- Blood is that fragile scarlet tree we carry within us.  
> I'd love to hear what you think about this one, my first in the ABO universe. Please, as always, be kind.


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